Memories of Malgudi bring together five unforgettable novels from the Narayan corpus. The Dark Room, the first novel in this collection, is the story of the marital discord between Savitri, a traditional Hindu wife, and Ramani, her husband. The English Teacher is about another young couple: Krishna and his wife, Susila. Their world is full of love and laughter, but when Susila passes away, Krishna must deal with the tragic blow and find a reason to go on living. In The World of Nagaraj, Narayan’s final novel, Nagaraj’s life of small comforts is rudely interrupted by the arrival of his nephew Tim, and he struggles to fend off the turbulence which threatens to disrupt his world forever. Sriram, the hero of Waiting for the Mahatma, is in love with the enchanting Bharati, but her primary loyalty is to Gandhiji and his ideals. Sriram becomes a follower of the Mahatma himself, but finds himself adapting the great man’s ideas to suit his own petty ends. And in The Guide, Narayan’s award-winning novel, Raju the guide takes a roller-coaster ride through life—he falls in love with the beautiful dancer Rosie, seduces her away from her husband, transforms her into a celebrity but then falls out with her. Finally, through a series of ironical events, he becomes a well-respected holy man. The last in Penguin India’s series of collectors’ editions of R.K. Narayan’s novels, Memories of Malgudi showcases the best of the master storyteller’s oeuvre.
