Synopsis
Two Lives weaves together two extraordinary stories that comprise one astonishing love affair: that of Vikram's great-uncle Shanti, brought up in India and sent in the 1930s to Berlin to study dentistry, and that of his great-aunt Henny, whose German-Jewish family took Shanti in as a lodger. When Henny fled to England just before the war, she was met by the only person she knew in the country: Shanti.
The events that shaped their lives shaped a century: war took Shanti to North Africa, the Middle East and the battle of Monte Cassino, where his right arm was blown off; persecution left Henny desperately searching for news of her mother and sister. After marrying Henny, Shanti defied his injury and once again resumed his profession, and in the 1970s the childless couple welcomed a new arrival to their home: their great-nephew from India, the teenage student, Vikram Seth…
The New York Times - William Grimes
In Shanti, Mr. Seth has top-grade material. His great-uncle was a splendid raconteur with a wealth of opinions and a lively turn of phrase (on full display in his scolding of an R.A.F. officer on the topic of British colonialism) … Mr. Seth draws a loving, vivid portrait of his great-uncle, and the reader, like Mr. Seth, is reluctant to let him go when he finally dies at the age of 89.