Heat and Dust (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Ruth Prawer
- First Published: 1975
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Philosophical
- Time of Work: A year in the 1970’s for Anne’s narrative and 1923 for Olivia’s story
- Setting: Satipur and Khatm, India
- Genres: Long fiction, Epistolary literature, Philosophical realism
- Subjects: Culture, Freedom, 1970’s, Class conflict, Colonies or colonization, Love or romance, Race, Sex or sexuality, Social issues, Prejudices or antipathies, Social life, 1920’s, Pregnancy, Women’s issues, Adultery, Letter writing, Abortion, India or East Indian people, Gossip, Scandal
- Locales: Satipur, India
Characters Discussed
Olivia Rivers, a young Englishwoman recently married, living in Satipur in 1923. Bored with the company of other English officials and their wives and neglected by Douglas, her hardworking husband, Olivia is also uncomfortable with the foreignness of India itself. Over a period of several months, she becomes romantically involved with the Nawab, the local native Indian ruler. When she becomes pregnant, she has an abortion because she is not sure whether her husband or the Nawab is the father of the child. After leaving her husband, she remains in India as...
[The entire page is 1487 words long]
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