(1971) is the third novel in Scott's

, following on from

and

. The novel, arranged into five parts, is principally the story of an elderly woman called Miss Batchelor, and Scott's early title for the book had been “The Apotheosis of Barbara Batchelor” (with regard to her name, Scott, though obviously also suggesting her spinsterhood, probably took the garrulous Barbie's surname from the hindi for talk,

). It begins with a review of Barbie's life in India and opens with the information that in September 1939, which was of course the month the Second World War began for the British, she retired as superintendent of the Protestant Mission schools in Ranpur, a city that featured heavily in

1663 words

Citation: Childs, Peter. "The Towers of Silence". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7953, accessed 23 November 2024.]