The Towers of Silence

Last updated

The Towers of Silence
PaulScott TheTowersOfSilence.jpg
First edition (UK)
Author Paul Scott
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Historical novel
Publisher Heinemann (UK)
William Morrow (US)
Publication date
October 1971
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages392 pp (hardback edition)
ISBN 0-434-68110-5 (hardback edition)
OCLC 281509
823/.9/14
LC Class PZ4.S428 To PR6069.C596
Preceded by The Day of the Scorpion  
Followed by A Division of the Spoils  

The Towers of Silence is the 1971 novel by Paul Scott that continues his Raj Quartet . It gets its title from the Parsi Towers of Silence where the bodies of the dead are left to be picked clean by vultures. The novel is set in the British Raj of 1940s India. It follows on from the storyline in The Day of the Scorpion .

Contents

Plot introduction

The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in The Jewel in the Crown and The Day of the Scorpion . Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels.

Much of the novel is in the form of epistolary, including interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character to another or entries in their diaries.

Setting

The story is set in the period 1939-1945 in several locations throughout India, particularly in a northern province of India. The province shares characteristics with Punjab and the United Provinces. The names of places and people suggest a connection to Bengal; however, the physical characteristics place the setting in north-central India, rather than in northeast India. The province has an agricultural plain and, in the north, a mountainous region.

The capital of the province is Ranpur. Another large city in the province is Mayapore, which was the key setting in The Jewel in the Crown. The princely state of Mirat is a nominally sovereign enclave within the province. Pankot is a "second class" hill station in the province which serves as a headquarters for the 1st Pankot Rifles, an important regiment of the Indian Army, who fought the Axis in North Africa. During the cool season, the regiment moves to Ranpur, on the plains. At Premanagar there is an old fortification that is used by the British as a prison. Another town, Muzzafirabad is the headquarters of the Muzzafirabad ("Muzzy") Guides, another Indian Army regiment. Other towns in the province are Tanpur and Nansera. Sundernagar is a "backwater town" in the province. Another hill station is in the Nanoora Hills.

Plot summary

The novel begins with the story of Barbie Batchelor, a retired missionary schoolteacher, who finds a place as a paying guest with Mabel Layton, a member of the aristocracy of the English in India, at Rose Cottage in Pankot. Barbie and Mabel become close. Mabel tells Barbie that she will only go to Ranpur when she's buried, which Barbie interprets to mean that she wants to be buried in Ranpur, next to the grave of her late husband, James Layton. Barbie is not accepted by the upper-class of Pankot and is treated as a peculiar and unwanted intruder. She is haunted by the attack on Edwina Crane, another missionary schoolteacher, and by Edwina's subsequent suicide by fire. Pankot society does not know what to make of Barbie.

Barbie and Pankot society are disappointed that the important society wedding of Susan Layton and Teddie Bingham was held in Mirat and not Pankot. But they are consoled with the gossip of the momentous events: (1) Teddie's injury resulting from a stone being thrown at his car, (2) Susan's instinct to show obeisance to the Nawab, thus saving all from embarrassment at his being detained at the entrance, and (3) the appearance of Shalini Gupta Sen at the railway station when the couple are being seen off on their honeymoon and the scene she creates with her entreaties to Merrick which are later revealed to regard Hari Kumar's imprisonment.

Barbie buys a set of silver Apostle spoons as a wedding gift. In order to make up for having the wedding out of town, Mildred throws a buffet luncheon at the Pankot Rifles officers' mess for Pankot society. Barbie is puzzled that her gift of spoons is not displayed with the other wedding gifts.

Susan's pregnancy is announced and, several months later, news of Teddie's death arrives. While Sarah is in Calcutta visiting Merrick, who witnessed Teddie's death and was himself injured, Mabel Layton has a stroke and dies. Susan is witness to the old lady's death and the shock drives her into premature labor. Worried about the state of Mabel's soul, Barbie worms her way into the morgue at the hospital and thinks she sees the anguish of eternal torment on the face of her dead friend. She is then shocked to learn that Mabel will be buried in Pankot and not in Ranpur, as she had wished. She pleads with Mildred for her friend's last wish, but Mildred rebukes her harshly for interfering. Mildred gives Barbie until the end of the month to vacate Rose Cottage.

Susan and her son survive a difficult childbirth. Barbie moves in with the vicar and his wife, Arthur and Clarissa Peplow. Susan's behavior is troubling. She seems not to be relating to her child in a maternal way and is often distracted and distant. Remembering a fable about scorpions committing suicide when surrounded by fire told her by Barbie, Susan pours kerosene in a ring on the grass, puts her baby in the center and lights the fluid. The baby is quickly saved by a servant. However, it is now clear that there is something seriously wrong with Susan, and she is put under the care of a psychiatrist. Mildred blames Barbie for planting the idea in her mind and returns the Apostle spoons through Clarissa.

Barbie, deeply hurt by the insult, decides to make a gift of silver to the 1st Pankot Rifles. She then sets off in search of Captain Coley to deliver the goods. Arriving at Coley's bungalow in a rainstorm, Barbie sees Coley and Mildred having sex. Undetected by the lovers, she flees from the bungalow, but is caught in the rainstorm and falls seriously ill, coming down with bronchopneumonia.

It is discovered that Sarah is pregnant and that Jimmy Clark must have been responsible for it. Aunt Fenny agrees to take Sarah away surreptitiously for an abortion. Susan seems to be recovering under the care of psychiatrist Captain Samuels. Barbie, recovering from pneumonia, finally donates the spoons to the regiment. She gets a letter from Calcutta, offering her a position as a teacher in Dibrapur, the site of Edwina Crane's suicide.

Barbie encounters Merrick and presents him with her copy of the painting, "The Jewel in Her Crown". While leaving Rose Cottage, Barbie is physically and mentally injured in an accident and ends up at a sanatorium in Ranpur. Her view is of the Parsees' towers of silence of the title. Sarah visits her, but she cannot seem to get through. Barbie dies just as the atomic bomb is exploded over Hiroshima in August 1945.

Critical reception

In a 1971 book review in Kirkus Reviews , an anonymous reviewer wrote the novel "retains the patient pace of the previous narratives and yet accelerates in stress as the raj era ends." The review summarized; "Old style, responsible artistry with a sustained and tireless vision." [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Room at the Top</i> (1959 film) 1959 film by Jack Clayton

Room at the Top is a 1959 British drama film based on the 1957 novel of the same name by John Braine. It was adapted by Neil Paterson, directed by Jack Clayton, and produced by John and James Woolf. The film stars Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston, and Hermione Baddeley.

<i>The Jewel in the Crown</i> (TV series) 1984 British television series

The Jewel in the Crown is a 1984 British television serial about the final days of the British Raj in India during and after World War II, based on British author Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels. Granada Television produced the series for the ITV network.

Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of British soldier Richard Sharpe. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series featuring Sean Bean in the title role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma</span> 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma

Patricia Edwina Victoria Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Baroness Brabourne,, was a British peeress and a third cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. She was the elder daughter of Admiral of the Fleet the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and of heiress Edwina Ashley. She was the elder sister of Lady Pamela Hicks, a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the last surviving baptismal sponsor to King Charles III. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afridi</span> Pashtun tribe

The Afrīdī is a Pashtun tribe present day tribal areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The Raj Quartet is a four-volume novel sequence, written by Paul Scott, about the concluding years of the British Raj in India. The series was written during the period 1965–75. The Times called it "one of the most important landmarks of post-war fiction."

<i>The Day of the Scorpion</i> 1968 book by Paul Scott

The Day of the Scorpion is a 1968 novel by Paul Scott, the second in his Raj Quartet. It is set in India during World War II as the influence of the British erodes. The novel focuses on old Raj family, the Laytons, the aftermath of the Mayapore incident focused on in The Jewel in the Crown, the Indian politician Mohammed Ali Kasim, and events in the princely state of Mirat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. E. Stevenson</span> Scottish author

Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish writer. She published more than 40 "light romantic novels" over a span of more than 40 years.

<i>The Jewel in the Crown</i> (novel) 1966 book by Paul Scott

The Jewel in the Crown is a 1966 novel by Paul Scott that begins his Raj Quartet. The four-volume novel sequence of the Quartet is set during the final days of the British Raj in India during the Second World War. The novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations or research and other portions are in the form of letters or diary entries. The novel focuses on the triangle of an English woman, an Indian man, and a British police superintendent, setting up the events of subsequent novels in the series. It is considered Scott's "major work." The title itself, which is also an expression for something most valuable, refers to the fact that India was considered to be the most valuable possession of the British Empire. The plot has direct similarities to the novel A Passage to India by E.M. Forster published in 1924.

<i>A Division of the Spoils</i> 1975 book by Paul Scott

A Division of the Spoils is the 1975 novel by Paul Scott. It is the fourth and final book of his Raj Quartet. The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in The Jewel in the Crown, The Day of the Scorpion, and The Towers of Silence. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels.

<i>Staying On</i> 1977 book by Paul Scott

Staying On is a novel by Paul Scott, which was published in 1977 and won the Booker Prize.

Mary Jo Putney is a best-selling American author of over twenty-five historical and contemporary romance novels. She has also published romantic fantasy novels as M.J. Putney. Her books are known for their unusual subject matter, including alcoholism, death, and domestic abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet E. McKenna</span> British author

Juliet E. McKenna is a British fantasy author. Her novels mostly form part of series, five series as of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Way</span> Australian novelist

Margaret Way was an Australian writer of romance novels and women's fiction. A prolific author, Way wrote more than 120 novels since 1970, many through Mills & Boon, a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd., owned by Harlequin Enterprises.

Karen Rose Smith is an American author born in Pennsylvania. Her first romance was published in 1992; her 97th novel, a mystery, will be published in 2017. It is the sixth in her eight book Caprice De Luca Home Staging mystery series. Her Daisy's Tea Garden mystery series will begin in 2018. She has written for Meteor/Kismet, Kensington, Silhouette and Harlequin. She has also indie-published novels and short story collections in e-book format. Twice a winner of New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award in Short Contemporary Romance, she has also been honored with CRA's Award Of Excellence for short contemporary, as well as the Golden Quill for Traditional Romance. Her romances have made the USA TODAY list and Amazon's romance bestseller list. Her mystery, Staged To Death, climbed to #1 on Amazon's cozy mystery bestseller list. Married, she spends her days writing, gardening, cooking and keeping her four rescued cats company.

<i>The Jewel of Medina</i> Historical novel

The Jewel of Medina is a historical novel by Sherry Jones that recounts the life of Aisha, one of Muhammad's wives, from the age of six, when she was betrothed to Muhammad, to her death.

<i>Untouchable</i> (novel) 1935 novel by Mulk Raj Anand

Untouchable is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand published in 1935. The novel established Anand as one of India's leading English authors. The book was inspired by his aunt's experience when she had a meal with a Muslim woman and was treated as an outcast by her family. The plot of this book, Anand's first, revolves around the argument for eradicating the caste system. It depicts a day in the life of Bakha, a young "sweeper", who is "untouchable" due to his work of cleaning latrines.

<i>First Daughter Suite</i> Musical by Michael John LaChiusa

First Daughter Suite is a chamber musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. A continuation of his 1993 musical First Lady Suite, First Daughter Suite is composed of four narrative segments, each centered on the mothers and daughters of political families in United States history. The figures portrayed include the Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan, and Bush families. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 2015 at The Public Theater.

References

  1. "The Towers of Silence". Kirkus Reviews. 24 February 1971.