A Passage to India

Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, A Passage to India, E.M. Forster's exotic and emotive masterpiece, poses a listener serious questions about preconceptions over race, creed, sex, religion and truth. Set in the era of The British Raj in India, the stunning narrative presents a complex and unsettled society through the voices and innermost thoughts of its many magnetic characters.The Story: Adela Quested travels to India with her chaperone Mrs. Moore, on the premise of deciding whether to marry Mrs. Moore's son Ronny Heaslop, the city magistrate. Finding her India very disappointingly English, Adela jumps at the chance to travel to the distant Marabar Caves with Aziz, a charismatic young Indian doctor.When Adela is subjected to an attempted assault in one of the caves, Dr. Aziz is arrested and tried in court. The volatile situation forces British India's cracks to widen into chasms, although bridges of hope are found in some open-minded British characters like the logical college principal Mr. Fielding.Forster's East-meets-West novel, in tackling the prejudices in India at the time of the British Raj, is as relevant today as when first published in 1924.