Heat and Dust: 1800 Headwords (Oxford Bookworms Library) [Import] [Paperback]

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Author), Clare West (Adapter)

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press; New Ed edition (April 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0194230686
• ISBN-13: 978-0194230681
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,160,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE HEAT OF THE ROMANCE...THE DUST OF ITS ASHES..., May 12, 2008

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Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heat and Dust: 1800 Headwords (Oxford Bookworms Library) (Paperback)

This is a well-written book that explores Anglo-Indian relations through the power of romance. Set in two distinct eras, colonial India of the nineteen twenties, during the time of the Raj, and the independent, freewheeling India of the seventies, during the time when India was a mecca for disenfranchised youth, it tells the story of two women.

One story is that of Olivia, the wife of a minor district official in colonial India, who in 1923 caused great scandal by running off with the Nawab, a local Indian prince. Divorced by her husband, Douglas, for this scandalous transgression, Olivia remains in India, while Douglas remarries. The second story is that of the narrator, a descendant of Douglas and his second wife. During the nineteen seventies, fascinated by the story of the now deceased Olivia, she goes to India, visiting those locations where Olivia had lived and those that would have been a part of her existence at the time. As did Olivia, she falls under India's spell. As did Olivia, she, too, has an Anglo-Indian love affair, and picks up where Olivia left off, giving the reader a powerful sense of de-ja vu.

The book is a beguiling story of two women from two different generations who come under the spell of India. The book is evocative of British colonial India, as well as of India of the nineteen seventies. During both eras, Anglo-Indian relations are pivotal to the budding romances. The book is evocative of the rhythms of Indian life in all its richness and tumultuousness, as well as its lingering poverty and superstitions. It is redolent of a time gone by and hopeful of what is to come. It is also an interesting dichotomy of the good and bad in both cultures, Anglo and Indian, and the influence that both cultures have on these two women, who are so different, yet so alike.

This is a book that whets the appetite, leaving the reader wanting more than the author is prepared to give. It is, nonetheless, a book well worth reading. The book was also made into a Merchant Ivory film starring Julie Christie and Greta Scacchi that is well worth watching.