J.G. Links
After waiting six years for a new Prawer Jhabvala novel and four for one by Iris Murdoch, a year in which both at last per- form turns out to be dominated by Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (Phoenix House, £20). Its much-quoted length is irrelevant, being just what it had to be to tell its story of one Muslim and two Hindu families three years after Indian Independence. They are linked by past marriages and friendships and the prospects and fears of new associations — and a presiding Muslim courtesan of some superiority. The caste is large and varied, the background urban and rural: both are totally convincing. The intricate events of their social, political and business lives are narrated with a control and understanding that suggest the hand of a masterly, perhaps great, novelist. Iris Murdoch is at the top of her form in The Green Knight (Chatto & Windus, £15.99) with a surprise on almost every page. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Poet and Dancer (John Murray, £14.99) tells of a girl of monumental nastiness, yet the Jhabvala genius leaves us feeling only compassion for her.
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