At the End of the Century: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Hardcover

Nobody has written so powerfully of the relationship between and within India and the Western middle classes than Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. In this definitive collection her ability to tenderly and humorously view the all too human situations faced by three (sometimes interacting) cultures--Europeans, post-independence Indians and Americans - -is never more acute.

Pathos, despair, sensuality and liberation are explored with sensitivity, wit and affection. In A Course of English Studies,a young woman arrives at Oxford from India, and struggles to adapt, not only to the sad, stoic object of her infatuation, but to a country that seems so resistant to passion and colour. In the wrenching Expiation, the blind unconditional love of a cloth shop owner has for his wastrel younger brother, exposes the sometimes tragic beauty and foolishness of human compassion and faith. The wry and triumphant Pagans brings us middle-aged sisters, Brigitte and Frankie in Los Angeles, who discover a youthful sexuality in the company of the languid and handsome young Indian, Shoki. The profound inner experience of both men and women is at the centre of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's writing; she creates a vivid emotional landscape for her readers, and rivals Jane Austen with her impeccable observation.

With an Introduction by her friend, the writer Anita Desai, At the End of the Century celebrates a writer's astonishing lifetime of gift with language, and leaves us in no doubt of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's unique place in modern literature.