The Towers of Silence
First US edition
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| Author | Paul Scott |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher |
Heinemann (UK) William Morrow (US) |
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Publication date
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October 1971 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 392 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 281509 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.S428 To PR6069.C596 |
| Preceded by | The Day of the Scorpion |
| Followed by | A Division of the Spoils |
The Towers of Silence is the 1971 novel by Paul Scott that continues his Raj Quartet. It gets its title from the Parsi Towers of Silence where the bodies of the dead are left to be picked clean by vultures. The novel is set in the British Raj of 1940s India. It follows on from the storyline in the The Day of the Scorpion.
The novel is set in the British Raj. It follows on from the storyline in the The Jewel in the Crown and The Day of the Scorpion. Many of the events are retellings from different points of view of events that happened in the previous novels.
Much of the novel is written in the form of interviews and reports of conversations and research from the point of view of a narrator. Other portions are in the form of letters from one character to another or entries in their diaries.
The story is set in the period 1939-1945 in several locations throughout India, particularly in a northern province of India. The province shares characteristics with Punjab and the United Provinces. The names of places and people suggest a connection to Bengal; however, the physical characteristics place the setting in north-central India, rather than in northeast India. The province has an agricultural plain and, in the north, a mountainous region.
The capital of the province is Ranpur. Another large city in the province is Mayapore, which was the key setting in The Jewel in the Crown. The princely state of Mirat is a nominally sovereign enclave within the province. Pankot is a "second class" hill station in the province which serves as a headquarters for the 1st Pankot Rifles, an important regiment of the Indian Army, who fought the Axis in North Africa. During the cool season, the regiment moves to Ranpur, on the plains. At Premanagar there is an old fortification that is used by the British as a prison. Another town, Muzzafirabad is the headquarters of the Muzzafirabad ("Muzzy") Guides, another Indian Army regiment. Other towns in the province are Tanpur and Nansera. Sundernagar is a "backwater town" in the province. Another hill station is in the Nanoora Hills.
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