The Nature of Passion

by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

A self-made contractor and indulgent father, Lanai has everything that money can buy. Like his womenfolk, he senses that much of his security comes from adherence to traditional Indian values, and has no time for the Western fads and fashions that are the new status symbols of New Delhi's super-rich.

But his children are growing up with different aspirations, especially Viddi, desperate to be a writer or art critic and avoid the family business, and Nimmi, pretty, delicate, graceful Nimmi, longing to be modern and independent, free to love and marry the man of her choice.

Jhabvala, a world class master story teller, traces the intricacies and compromises of life in New Delhi with a delicious blend of light wit and tender gravity, showing herself to be a master of social comedy and a brilliant exponent of the Indian character.

Genres: Fiction, India

191 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1956

About the author

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was a British and American novelist and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant.
In 1951, she married Indian architect Cyrus Jhabvala and moved to New Delhi. She began then to elaborate her experiences in India and wrote novels and tales on Indian subjects. She wrote a dozen novels, 23 screenplays, and eight collections of short stories and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas List of the 1998 New Years Honours and granted a joint fellowship by BAFTA in 2002 with Ivory and Merchant. She is the only person to have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.

Reviews

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Yoshita Sood · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that the author is a German born Britisher writing about a Punjabi business class family post independence does not sit right with me.

The elders of aforementioned family are entangled with Indian traditions and the children want everything to do with English ways of living. I'm not discrediting that this might be the mindset of most rich people in the 1950s but the book reeks of how a foreigner will view a 'backward' Indian family.

Even if I ignore all the bias, the book was fine, at the best. I didn't take away anything from it. My brain neither gained or lost something.
One lesson I can think of is to be more mindful about who am I reading and what the author's intention are, before picking up my next book.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The millionaire's passion is to make tons of money. His daughter's passion is to be "fashionable and modern." She smokes cigarettes, hides a skimpy tennis costume at "the club", and is kissed by a "Parsi" . Her mother, her brothers, sister, in-laws, aunts and servants would be horrified if they knew. Full of hilarious scenes and gentle humor.

[Priya Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, beautifully written book taking a light-hearted but insightful look at post-colonial India. The author deftly shows the clash of tradition and modernity while also making interesting studies of the characters that are grappling with these ideas, looking at both their considerable flaws as well as their hopeful aspirations.

[Micebyliz]

Insight into the cultural norms of India, at least in the 1950's. Every little detail of what you say and do and how you dress and whether you show up for special events, or even dinner is scrutinized.
Women don't need education? hello! wake up call 20th century because the 21st is here.
Not quite sure why it's called the nature of passion unless it's just the profiles of the family members and what their experiences were during this time just navigating their lives. I like this author though and i have read other books of hers.

[David Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel of marriage and society is essentially a soap opera, but one made rich both by the realism of the characters and by the setting—the book was written and is set in post-partition India. While I wish the book were longer—the ending is rushed, given the languid pace for most of the 200 pages—I will certainly remember several of the characters for a long time.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books which once started I didn’t want to put down until I had finished it.

[Simon Pressinger]

Dnf -- but not at all a dud, the writing's excellent. Just a story for another time.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good narative about India. But ulitmately the characters weren't ones I could care about all that much. A small but beutifully written story.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comedy of manners in which a "modernizing" Indian family deludes themselves.