RUTH PRAWER JHABVALA, born in 1927, wrote several novels and short stories, and, in collaboration with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (for Howards End and A Room with a View). She won the Booker Prize in 1975 for Heat and Dust. Her other numerous accolades include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and an O. Henry Prize. She died in 2013.
""Remarkable . . . The acuity of Jhabvala’s observations and the clarity of her prose make this collection exhilarating . . . Brilliant, unsparing examinations of the human condition in all its variety."" —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)