Staying On

In his sequel of The Raj Quartet Paul Scott depicts the life of two of the minor characters Tusker and Lucy Smalley. This is the appealing story of the last surviving members of the old school of British in Pankot, a town in India, 24 years after the Independence. Covering only a few months, it makes us witnesses of a whole lifetime. Frankly told, often causing us to feel a lump in our throats, Scott's novel skillfully pictures the emotional impact the débãcle of the British imperialism in India has on a family who chose to stay on. It took me a while to become fully immersed in the book due to its unusual beginning. The very first page tells of the death of Tusker Smalley, which, in fact, is also the end of that elegiac psychological novel. As I read pretty much the same description of the very same episode at the end of the book, I felt something totally different. Since Tusker was already a friend of mine, his ways not just a weird old man's habitudes, his life not merely a consecution of events, but the result of unfavourable circumstances and crucial decisions, his death grieved me deeply. The divergence between the story and the plot draws us into a mazy time puzzle, which we have to arrange for ourselves. We are shown into the all-embracing socio-historical setting both before and after the Independence in 1947 through the eyes of Mr and Mrs Smalley, their servant Ibrahim, and the manager of the hotel where they live, Mr Bhoolobhoy. The various perspectives contribute to the comprehension and comprehensiveness of this fading Anglo-Indian portrait of a whole civilization in miniature. The character of Lucy Smalley is similarly developed through a number of retrospections. In her imaginary conversations with the young Englishman Mr Turner she looks back with bitterness on the days of the raj, most of which pass under the sign of the imposed British hierarchy. Just when she achieves the aspired position of Colonel's Lady "the old hierarchy collapsed and a new one, the Indian one, took its place". Thus, nothing changes for them because the new race of sahibs and memashibs places them as far down in the social scale as the Eurasians in the days of the raj. The changes brought about by the Independence estrange Lucy and Tusker even more than before. The lack of communication cuts them off from one another and makes them live separate lives under the same roof. He has a rude awakening when he realizes that the huge rise in the cost of living in England prices them out of the home market and they must stay on in India. This leads to his "personality change", as Lucy calls it. She, for her part, is terribly lonely because in this new world she has become "a black sheep in reverse exposure". She fears the moment when her ill husband will pass away and she will be destitute because, `She would be alone in a foreign country. There would be no one of her own kind, her own colour, no close friend by whom to be comforted or on whom she could rely fo

This is a coda to the wonderful RAJ QUARTET. It is nearly as good as the other four novels. Tusker Smalley dies of a heart attack. At the the time of his death Mrs. Bhoolabhoy owns Smith's Hotel. Tusker and Lucy stay in a lodge on the property. The hotel is no longer the grand place it used to be. Now the Shiraz, a newer enterprise, is the really stylish establishment. Paul Scott portrays Mr. Bhoolabhoy in hilarious terms. Mr. Bhoolabhoy functions as management at his wife's place of business and also considers himself Tusker's best friend. Just before his death Tusker Smalley fired his servant Ibrahim. Ibrahim had been fired on other occasions by either Tusker or his wife, Lucy, but of course in this instance the action is final. The Smalleys are the last of Pankot's permanent retired British residents. Hearing of the death of Colonel Layton in England, Lucy commences to write to Sarah Layton. It is learned subsequently that Sarah married Guy Perron and a friend of theirs, David Tucker, is scheduled to visit Pankot and complicates the action by causing Lucy to make provision for his stay under the circumstances where she does not truly understand Tusker's careful stewardship of the couple's rather limited resources. Through the memory of Lucy the book circles back to the earlier incidents of Mabel Layton's death at Rose Cottage, the fate of her house guest, Barbie, and the residency of Tusker and Lucy at that abode. Mr. Bhoolabhoy has always felt that Lucy's presence in Smith's dining room makes the place seem less seedy. In the end Mrs. Bhoolabhoy sells out to a consortium and Tusker dies clutching the notice to quit prepared by his dear friend, Frank Bhoolabhoy, the management of Smith's Hotel.

I would not rank this lovely novel with the Raj Quartet in power or scope, but it is certainly a delightful read. It is tragi-comic... comic in the characters Scott presents to us; tragic (or at least sad) in its portrayal of a marriage coming to its natural end.

Out of all his novels, including those set in India, this is his greatest work. Funny, wonderfully written, and sometimes disturbing, this novel is truly brilliant.

Though not the same characters of the Raj Quartet, this book continues the saga of British colonials in India, those who stayed on after India achieved its independence. Interesting reading now with Hong Kong being ceded to Red China this month. Many people there who spent their lives in the last British outpost will be staying on. It makes for both relevant and comparative reading at the present time