Staying on

The sequel to The Raj Quartet, Paul Scott's Staying On describes the fate of Colonel Tusker and Lucy Smalley, a British couple who remain in India after the war. In spite of their woes Tusker and Lucy are wonderfully comic, spirited, and eloquent characters. They reveal the intricate class tensions among the British of the Raj, the ambiguities of relationships with Indian employees, and the mute loyalty and resentful dependence of aging couples.