INDIGO

by Christine Weston ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 1943

I liked this immensely, and it seems to have a timeliness, not in period, but in subject matter, which should interest a wide public. Christine Weston grew up in just such a setting as she uses for this novel of a group of people who reflect various facets of the thought and viewpoint of India, before and after the last war. The story itself is of less importance than the sense one gets of a growing unease, a growing awareness among the people that the British overlords must be eliminated. Hardyal, son of Ganpat Rai, has grown up as the close friend of Jacques de St Remy, sensitive son of Madame de St Remy, owner of the Indigo plantation; Hardyal and Jacque; have taken for granted the merging of interests and identities until adolescence, and for Hardyal some years at an English school bring cruel awareness of the tragedy of the race problem. The mysterious Mrs. Lyttleton, law unto herself, has tried to live so as to disprove the existence of the problem, but in the violent death of her servant, Jalal, through the insolent indifference of the engineer, Mr. Wall, she is thrust into a situation she had not bargained for. Then Hanif dies, in a religious feud, at the hands of his own countryman. The Macbeths, typical of the British army in occupation viewpoint, express yet another facet of a complex picture. There is no attempt to rationalize, to come to conclusions. The story -- the personalities -- the problems are there.

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1943

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1943

Categories: FICTION