书目

The India House

内容简介

Thelocalscallit'TheIndiaHouse'.Buttheyhavelittletodowiththethreewomenwholivethere:grandmother,motheranddaughter.Upstairs,oldMrsCovingtondreamsofIndiaandthedaysoftheRaj.HerwidoweddaughterEvelynwatchesobsessivelyovereighteen-year-oldJulia.Shehasdecidedthatthegirlistobekeptinastateof'innocence'.Thetutor,MrHenry,isallowedtoteachonlyabizarremixtureofmythology,history,theRomanticPoets,arithmetic,French,andtheperilsofsocialism.Hisseconddutyistofilletthenewsinthe"Times"eachdayandreportasanitisedversiontothefamily.Aslittleaspossibleofthemodernworldmustintrude.Butitis1956.Indiahasbeenlostforadecade;therestoftheEmpireisjustaboutholdingtogether.BritainisabouttofacethegreatmisadventureofSuez.MrsCovingtonmaytrytoavoidthemodernworld,butshecannotpreventthearrivaloftwomen,hersonRoland,andhereighteen-year-oldgrandson,James.Thefragileparadisethewomenhaveconstructedisabouttobechangedforever.Inthisblacklycomicnovelthepastisrichlyevoked,butitsmessageofcolonialambitionanddisasterandofloveandcorruptionarebothmovingandtimely.

作者简介

WilliamPalmerhashadfivebookspublished,andmanystories,reviewsandpoemsinnewspapersandjournalssuchasLondonMagazine,LiteraryReview,theIndependent,theTimesLiterarySupplement,andtheDailyTelegraph.HispreviousnovelsareTheGoodRepublic(Secker&Warburg,1990),Leporello(Secker&Warburg,1992),TheContract(JonathanCape,1995)andThePardonofSaintAnne(JonathanCape,1997).AnvilPresspublishedaselectionofhispoemsin1990,andacollectionofshortstories,FourLastThingswaspublishedbySecker&Warburgin1996.In1997hewasawardedtheSocietyofAuthors'prestigiousTravellingScholarship.Forthreeyears,from2000-2003,hewasRoyalLiteraryFundWritingFellowattheUniversityofBirmingham.Intheautumnheistakingupapart-timeFellowshipattheUniversityofWarwick.WilliamPalmerlivesinSouthWestLondon.

—  END  —