About this ebook
H.H. is the spoilt, selfish, beautiful widow of the Maharaja of Mastipur. She lives with her dogs and her caretaker, Hans, in an enormous old house in Mussoorie, taking lovers and discarding them, drinking too much and fending off her reckless sons who are waiting hungrily for their inheritance. The seasons come and go, hotels burn down, cinemas shut shop and people leave the hill station never to return, but H.H. remains constant and indomitable. Observing her antics, often with disapproval, is her old friend Ruskin, who can never quite cut himself off from her. Melancholic, wry and full of charm, Maharani is a delightful novella about love, death and friendship.
Ratings and reviews
4.2
21 reviews
A Google user
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January 2, 2018
H.H. is somebody I will not forget. It was a short read but thoroughly entertaining and packed with witty humour. Very realistic but not saddening. Great for a short excursion to the damp woods of Mussourie if you have nothing more than an afternoon to spare.
3 people found this review helpful
Aparajita Bagchi
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March 29, 2023
Never a dull moment when reading Ruskin Bond. This book does complete justice to the character of Maharani, one of the greatest characters to be penned down by the author
TAPAN DAS
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August 29, 2013
A typical Ruskin narration- absorbing but giving afeeling of aloofness to the events.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Ruskin Bond's first novel, The Room on the Roof, written when he was seventeen, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written a number of novellas, essays, poems and children's books, many of which have been published by Penguin. He has also written over 500 short stories and articles that have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993, the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014. Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, and grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. As a young man, he spent four years in the Channel Islands and London. He returned to India in 1955. He now lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family
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