Kindle
$12.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$81.62
Paperback
$14.67
Buy new:
-8% $14.67
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$14.67 with 8 percent savings
List Price: $15.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 15 hrs 53 mins
In Stock
$$14.67 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.67
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$7.95
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Nice clean copy with no highlighting or writing. We take pride in our accurate descriptions. Satisfaction Guaranteed. See less
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 15 hrs 53 mins
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
$$14.67 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.67
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Heat and Dust Paperback – April 16, 1999

by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 730 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.67","priceAmount":14.67,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"67","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"wR11sATIzYwVFEMrt9GU97bh6jbNUz8OtOALocxXG4JpoFozM0qlic9foSJYrBW1LcRrGs3Ysxv2w1X3cs0wAWTkC3ny7y%2FVN9pImKqxjOWhZ7H9SiljHrEo8fN4d4o8nuUHRKPN9U4%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.95","priceAmount":7.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"wR11sATIzYwVFEMrt9GU97bh6jbNUz8OIxk%2BYQZZ99PyYyGZQZ9%2BLo6Ifu2qqPeqb8NNPzS5M%2FAIRrY6TmqgK6iKUKZ9yfDycB%2BVeMT9cCwYp31Vko6RcIXO9nxrY6GVN8F9c1pltC1lA6xN%2BuiNhxasUjElUg02C%2B5CNtFef0nu23SLuyKfkTbc6Cq8uKze","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A profound and powerful novel, winner of the Booker Prize
Set in colonial India during the 1920s, Heat and Dust tells the story of Olivia, a beautiful woman suffocated by the propriety and social constraints of her position as the wife of an important English civil servant. Longing for passion and independence, Olivia is drawn into the spell of the Nawab, a minor Indian prince deeply involved in gang raids and criminal plots. She is intrigued by the Nawab's charm and aggressive courtship, and soon begins to spend most of her days in his company. But then she becomes pregnant, and unsure of the child's paternity, she is faced with a wrenching dilemma. Her reaction to the crisis humiliates her husband and outrages the British community, breeding a scandal that lives in collective memory long after her death.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    190 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Counterpoint
  4. Publication date
    April 16, 1999
  5. Dimensions
    5.6 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9781582430157
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1582430157
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Heat and Dust
$14.67
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Autumn: A Novel (Seasonal Quartet)
$10.29
Get it as soon as Thursday, May 30
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Cockroach
$12.99
Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11
Only 20 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A superb book. A complex story line, handled with dazzling assurance . . . moving and profound. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has not only written a love story, she has also exposed the soul and nerve ends of a fascinating and compelling country. This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured.”
—The Times

“Her tussle with India is one of the richest treats of contemporary literature.”
—The Guardian

“A writer of genius . . . a writer of world class—a master storyteller.”
—Sunday Times

“Heat and Dust is an obscure and somber novel, tense with undisclosed judgments and meanings that crouch and whisper just beyond one's reach.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Crafted with technical skill as assured as it is unobtrusive, this delicately written novel is, because of its setting and its theme of Anglo–Indian relationships, reminiscent of E.M. Forster's great novel, A Passage to India. It does not suffer by comparison.”
—The Washington Post

“A penetrating and compassionate love story, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has exposed the soul and nerve ends of a fascinating and compelling country . . . This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured.”
—The London Times

About the Author

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is the author of nineteen books. She is the recipient of Booker Prize, a MacArthur fellowship, and has been honored with an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Jhabvala's screenplays for Merchant–Ivory Productions have earned two Academy Awards. Jhabvala and her husband divide their time between Delhi and New York.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1582430152
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint; Reprint edition (April 16, 1999)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 190 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781582430157
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1582430157
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 730 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
730 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jana L.Perskie
4.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful, Beautifully Written Novel Of Two Women & India
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2004
Verified Purchase
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's powerful and beautifully written novel of an "outrageous" Anglo-Indian romance in 1920s Khatm and Satipur won the Booker Prize in 1983. The author has crafted parallel tales of two young women, distantly related and separated by two generations. Anne, the story's narrator, travels to India to discover more about the mystery surrounding her grandfather's first wife, Olivia.
Douglas Rivers, an upper echelon English civil servant, married and brought his adored wife, Olivia, with him to India in 1923, during the British Raj. She was a beautiful, spoiled and spirited young woman, who found it difficult to adjust to life in the British colonial community of Satipur. Feeling suffocated by the inbred group she was forced to socialize with, Olivia longed for independence, intellectual stimulation and a more passionate life. She hoped that a baby would solve her problems but found it more difficult to become pregnant than she had thought. Shortly after their arrivel in India, Douglas, Olivia and some of the more important members of the community were invited to the palace of the Nawab of Khatm and she was immediately intrigued by the handsome, charismatic prince. He courted her friendship aggressively and then the friendship turned passionate. When faced with a crisis Olivia was forced to make life altering decisions which would have far reaching effects and cause scandal throughout British India and England that would last for generations.
Anne stays in the town where her grandfather and Olivia lived fifty years before. Trying to piece together the puzzle that was Olivia and discover what motivated her to change her life so drastically, Anne visits the places her "step-grandmother" frequented and interviews people who knew her or knew of her. She also reads the letters and journals that Olivia wrote so long ago, and oddly enough, Anne ventures into experiences similar to Olivia's adventures, but more acceptable in our modern time. Anne's spiritual and sensual journey in the 1970s parallels Olivia's as the color, heat, exotic landscapes, and people of India penetrate her western upbringing. Anne writes in her own diary: "Fortunately, during my first few months here, I kept a journal, so I have some record of my early impressions. If I were to try and recollect them now, I might not be able to do so. They are no longer the same because I myself am no longer the same. India always changes people, and I have been no exception."
This short and delicately written novel packs a powerful punch and paints an extraordinary portrait of British colonials in India, with their sense of cultural and moral superiority over the local population. However, even more compelling and unusual, is the story of two women, generations apart, who follow similar paths under the spell of India.
JANA
33 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Neera Kapahi
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling read
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
“ Heat and dust,” centers around two women several generations apart. The narrator travels to India to investigate the scandalous past of her step grandmother Olivia who came to India during the time of the time of the British Raj.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala does an excellent job with the storytelling- the book won the Booker prize. We get to know the main characters really well. The pace of the book is slow and even though much of it deals with the day to day and the mundane,it held my interest.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2019
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed the author's depiction of life in India at two distinct periods in its history - the twilight of British rule and more modern times- as seen through the eyes of privileged British citizens, a minor local nobleman and ordinary Indians. The characters from diverse backgrounds in each period draw us in. I do wish, however, that the author had not ended the story as quickly as she did. I wanted to learn more about the characters and what happened to them.
Helpful
 Report
Jeanajoan
4.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected ending
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
Well written and interesting, but after all the build up, I was disappointed by the ending, which didn’t seem to address the entire context of the plot.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Menarue
5.0 out of 5 stars India, past and present.
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
A wonderful book, beautifully written. I already had this book as I had given it when I was teaching a Cambridge Proficiency in English class. I bought a copy for myself to read again and this copy has been sent to a friend who is on a cruise and wanted an interesting book to read at night. I am waiting to hear from her but I am sure she will enjoy it as much as I have.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
joanna rose
2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed the imagery of India, however the ending was a big disappointment and made me regret the hours I invested in reading it.
Helpful
 Report
Susan Scott
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read.
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
I ejoyed the description of the different cultures. It is possibly somewhat dated and not so new for someone living in a culturally diverse community.
I think I expected more from the author and the end is rather unsatisfactory.
Still more than worthwhile read.
Helpful
 Report
Lorraine
4.0 out of 5 stars Very nicely written.
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
I liked the parallel stories recounted in the same place but different timing. It's has allowed me to have a view of India and the life under the colony. The weather conditions are hard and affect people's moods. That is described in detail with a very nice prose.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Adam
4.0 out of 5 stars An escapist novel you'll end up wanting to escape from
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
Amazon was the only place I could acquire a copy of this book. My "used" edition lacks its dust jacket but is otherwise in excellent condition.

It took me a few days, after reading Heat and Dust to formulate my thoughts. Haunting, enigmatic, spellbinding, are adjectives critics use when they don't understand what's in front of them, and they don't apply here.

I admit to not having heard of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala until the summer of 2019 when I embarked on buying and reading all the Booker Prize winnners. Heat and Dust was one of a mere two books shortlisted for the prize in 1975; although just one year earlier, judges had been spoilt for choice and shared out the prize for the first time.

Scouring shops for a second-hand copy of Heat and Dust, I spotted a few Ruth Prawer Jhabvala titles, but my first sample of her work was watching Merchant Ivory Productions' Remains of the Day for which she wrote the screenplay (after it too had won the Booker Prize). Yet the novelist with whom she is perhaps most closely associated is E. M. Forster, having adapted several of his books for the silver screen; and like him she takes foreigners adrift as a theme in this novel.

Most of the English characters in Heat and Dust are on journeys of self-discovery. All of their quests, however, appear to have seized up in the heat and dust of the title. Chid is a Hindu convert whose experiences in India lead him back to Western values and a retreat to England. Harry, likewise, is physically ruined by India and is drawn home. Two female characters ultimately stay on the subcontinent but voyage north, high into the Himalayas – an ascension from the world below, particularly the heat and dust.

The novel consists of two interrelated plots, which are easily followable, the narrative being split between 1923 (principally concerning Olivia) and the present-day, presumably the 1970s (involving the unnamed female narrator).

I heard echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, with its unchristened narrator who is intrigued – not to say haunted – by the memory of the dead first wife of her English (and here the parallel comes to an abrupt end) grandfather, her name being not Rebecca but Olivia.

There are many points of similarity in Olivia's and the later female narrator's journeys. The way each chooses to handle the contrasting circumstances of the India in which she finds herself (pre- and post-independence), and the way the author subtly points up these parallels simply by juxtaposing them, strengthens the novel.

Disturbing relationships arise throughout both time frames: between the Nawab – a minor prince – and his homosexual house "guest" of three years, Harry; between the Nawab and Olivia; between the present-day narrator and her married Indian host, Inder Lal, and also with her extraordinarily endowed roommate, Chid:

"[Chid] also needs sex very badly and seems to take it for granted that I will give it to him the same way I give him my food. I have never had such a feeling of being used.

Every now and then he gets those monstrous erections of his and I have to fight him off (quite apart from anything else it's just too hot)."

Such scenes of casual – verging on abusive – sex with Chid were, as I understand it, excised from the author's own screenplay to the 1983 adaptation (another Merchant Ivory Production). Her filmic counterpart is thus saved the ignominy of conducting affairs with two men interchangeably, sometimes in the same room:

"After Chid moved back in again, Inder Lal at first felt shy about his nightly visits. But I have assured him that it is all right because Chid is mostly sleeping. He just lies there and groans and it is difficult to believe that it is the same person who performed all those tremendous feats on me."

Here and elsewhere the narrator's privacy (and morality) apparently deteriorate to nothing – this is a world where onlookers and midwives know the inner workings of a woman's body before she knows herself.

Is the ending, then, an attempt to reestablish privacy? Escaping from the heat and dust, Olivia and the narrator are similarly - and, certainly in the latter case, willingly - exiled to the mountains. But when does privacy become imprisonment and defeat? The final pages were strongly reminiscent of the alpine climax in D H Lawrence's Women In Love, with the prospect of death unspoken but inescapable.

In the end, India cast its spell over Olivia and her proselyte, in a way that it didn't quite for Chid or Harry or this reader.
3 people found this helpful
 Report
mj
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice to read but why booker prize?
Reviewed in the Netherlands on February 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
We (our reading club) thought it a nice book to read, interesting, you get a nice idea of India, and the switching back and forth between 1920 and 1970 is nicely done.
We thought that there were many characters which were touched upon but who you did not really got to know. We get the feeling that a lot of the work got into plotting the book. drafting parallels between then and now, to show similarities and changes. None of the characters are really touching you.
Having said that, we all enjoyed reading the book.
Report
Placeholder
5.0 out of 5 stars This book was highly recommended by a very dear friend who is an avid ...
Reviewed in India on December 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book was highly recommended by a very dear friend who is an avid reader so the expectations were quite high. I am very happy that the book lived up to these expectations. Awesome book. Interesting story.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Reiner Prediger
4.0 out of 5 stars Hilfreich!
Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
Durch diese Interpretationshilfe ist eine Erörterung, Charakterisierung und Zusammenfassung von Handlungsabläufen viel
leichter zu gestalten. Kann ich jedem nur empfehlen.
Report
Giada
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfetto
Reviewed in Italy on December 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
Libro arrivato in condizioni ottime, niente per cui lamentarmi. Venditore efficiente, veloci nella spedizioni pur essendo gratuita. Null'altro da aggiungere.
Report