From Publishers Weekly
In plain, unassuming prose that doesn't altogether conceal the tears and laughter that give it urgency, the story of many different Indias unfolds in these 15 tales. There is Durga, "The Widow," who likes her husband better now that he is dead and has left her his fortune, which she vows, abortedly, never to let fall into the hands of his importuning relatives. There is the cabinet minister's wife, who, in "Rose Petals," keeps failing to conform to the demands of officialdom in the face of the far more exciting companionship of Biju, the elegant elderly gentleman, never married, who visits her every day. "Bombay" tells of "the Uncle," whose beloved niece marries a rich merchant, moves to his opulent home and, when the Uncle is so ill that he hasn't the strength to resist, packs his few rags and takes him to live with her in surroundings alien and abhorrent to him. All the stories, unrelated but focusing on the search for a quiet center that justifies disjointed and woebegone lives, are woven together in a glowing tapestry enriched by profound knowledge, humor and compassion. 25,000 first printing; $20,000 ad/promo. (May Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Born in Germany, educated in England, and married to an Indian, Jhabvala has spent most of her adult life in India: "a country for which I was not born." She describes her relationship with India, "this great animal of poverty and backwardness," in an introduction that contrasts the country's oppressiveness with its high culture and reveals Jhabvala's own ambivalence as a Westerner. Her fictionnine novels and four story collectionsdepicts Indian life, and often its effect on non-Indians, with sensitivity and wit. The 15 stories in Out of India were chosen by the author from her previous collections, published between 1964 and 1976. Jhabvala's introduction is the only new piece here; but the stories ("How I Became a Holy Mother," "An Experience of India," etc.) represent the best of her short fiction. Janet Wiehe, P.L. of Cincinnati & Hamilton Cty.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 1986, this volume of stories, selected by the author from her own early work, represents the essence of her Indian experience. Bearing Jhabvala's hallmark of balance, subtlety, wry humor, and beauty, these stories present characters that prove to be as vulnerable to the contradictions and oppressions of the human heart as to those of India itself.


About the Author
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was born of Polish parents in Cologne, Germany. She started school when Hitler came to power, and moved to England with her family in 1939. In 1951 she married Indian architect C.S.H. Jhabvala and moved with him to India. Jhabvala is the author of twelve novels, including Heat and Dust, which was awarded Britain's prestigious Booker Prize. She is a MacArthur Fellow, and has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and an award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A talented screenwriter, Jhabvala has earned two Academy Awards (A Room with a View and Howards End) with her work for Merchant-Ivory Productions. She is currently preparing a screen adaptation of The Golden Bowl. She and her husband divide their time between Delhi and New York.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In plain, unassuming prose that doesn't altogether conceal the tears and laughter that give it urgency, the story of many different Indias unfolds in these 15 tales. There is Durga, ``The Widow,'' who likes her husband better now that he is dead and has left her his fortune, which she vows, abortedly, never to let fall into the hands of his importuning relatives. There is the cabinet minister's wife, who, in ``Rose Petals,'' keeps failing to conform to the demands of officialdom in the face of the far more exciting companionship of Biju, the elegant elderly gentleman, never married, who visits her every day. ``Bombay'' tells of ``the Uncle,'' whose beloved niece marries a rich merchant, moves to his opulent home and, when the Uncle is so ill that he hasn't the strength to resist, packs his few rags and takes him to live with her in surroundings alien and abhorrent to him. All the stories, unrelated but focusing on the search for a quiet center that justifies disjointed and woebegone lives, are woven together in a glowing tapestry enriched by profound knowledge, humor and compassion.

Library Journal

Born in Germany, educated in England, and married to an Indian, Jhabvala has spent most of her adult life in India: ``a country for which I was not born.'' She describes her relationship with India, ``this great animal of poverty and backwardness,'' in an introduction that contrasts the country's oppressiveness with its high culture and reveals Jhabvala's own ambivalence as a Westerner. Her fiction, nine novels and four story collections, depicts Indian life, and often its effect on non-Indians, with sensitivity and wit. The 15 stories in Out of India were chosen by the author from her previous collections, published between 1964 and 1976. Jhabvala's introduction is the only new piece here; but the stories (``How I Became a Holy Mother,'' ``An Experience of India,'' etc.) represent the best of her short fiction. Janet Wiehe, P.L. of Cincinnati & Hamilton Cty.

Charles McGrath