Jewel in the Crown — Paul Scott

The first novel in the epic quartet about the last days of British rule in India, “as much a story of romantic love as it is of crime . . . an artful triumph” (The New Yorker).

The Jewel in the Crown is the first of Paul Scott's renowned historical novels that “limn the Anglo-Indian world with its lovers, friends, family servants, soldiers, businessmen, murderers and suicides -- all involved in one another's fate” (The New York Times). It opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for independence. On the night after the Indian Congress Party votes to support Gandhi, riots break out and an ambitious police sergeant arrests a young Indian for the alleged rape of the woman they both love.

“What has always astonished me about The Raj Quartet is its sense of sophisticated and total control of its gigantic scenario and highly varied characters . . . The politics are handled with an expertise that intrigues and never bores, and are always seen in terms of individuals.” -- New Republic

“Paul Scott's vision is both precise and painterly.” -- The New York Times Book Review

“Few people have written about India quite as seductively, or as intelligently, with a sense of loss but also a sense of responsibility and fallibility.” -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)