Heat and Dust

Parallel lines never meet, but in this perceptive novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvla the parallel lives of two women in India a half-century apart do touch. The 1923 strand follows a British official's wife who takes up with a minor Indian prince. Despite the declarations of all the old India hands, including her husband, that they know the country best, it is the newcomer who feels at once at home, even during the insufferable heat. The post-independence thread has a more optimistic and modern outcome. Throughout, the author's crystalline, gorgeous prose propels the reader forward. Her characterizations may not go deep enough for some, but discerning readers will appreciate the Greene-like sophistication and remove.