Birds of Paradise

A Novel

Scott Paul

Paul Scott is most famous for his much-beloved tetralogy "The Raj Quartet", an epic that chronicles the end of the British rule in India with a cast of vividly and memorably drawn characters. Inspired by Scott's own time spent in India during World War II, this powerful novel provides valuable insight into how foreign lands changed the British who worked and fought in them, hated and loved them.

A coming of age tale, "The Birds of Paradise" is the story of a boy and his childhood friendship with the daughter of a British diplomat and the son of the Raja. Scott artfully brings his young narrator's voice to life with evocative language and an eye for detail, capturing the pangs of childhood and the bittersweet fog of memory with nostalgic yet immediate prose

About the Author

Paul Scott (1920-1978) was a British novelist best known for the tetralogy "The Raj Quartet", published by the University of Chicago Press. Scott was drafted into the British Army during World War II and was stationed in India, an experience which shaped much of his literary work. The University of Chicago Press has also published his novels "Six Days in Marapore" and "Staying On", the latter of which won the Man Booker Prize for 1977.

Reviews

"'The Birds of Paradise' is a rare literary bird, a novel that in a short space recreates a man's lifetime. Using exotic backgrounds, it manages to say something useful about growing up – a process that only children believe takes place mainly in childhood" – Time

"Extremely interesting... Mr. Scott's montage is first-class. The book is beautifully composed" – Times Literary Supplement

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