The Day of the Scorpion

A little over a year ago I read the first in Paul Scott’s remarkable Raj Quartet, The Jewel in the Crown. Last month, I finished reading the next in the series, The Day of the Scorpion. Each are very captivating novels rich in history and deep characterizations. I would be hard pressed to tell you w......more

The proud scorpion, surrounded by a wall of fire from kerosene, will sting itself to death in the face of its inescapable fate - such is the myth. Here we see an age-old empire do the same: and it is reflected in the life of two sisters, who face death and the loss of innocence in different ways. Ano......more

After I finished The Jewel in the Crown, my mother, who adores the Raj Quartet, was amazed that I didn’t immediately ask to borrow the next in the series. “Aren’t you curious about the characters?” she asked. She doesn’t understand the allure of a group read. I was perfectly content to postpone the......more

The second in the Raj Quartet. Stunning. The characterizations are brilliant and Scott captures the decline of the British influence on India beautifully. The introduction of Sarah Layton and her family. The Kasim family and Count Bronowsky all add to the rich tapestry of the story. Merrick is back......more

More conventional than its predecessor, but so brilliant Nothing becomes this second volume of Paul Scott's The Raj Quartet so much as its opening and closing. As he had done several times in The Jewel in the Crown, Scott leaps ahead in his prologue to post-Partition India. His image of a woman i......more