Contents: Introduction. 1. The rural novel : some theoretical considerations. 2. The rural novel in Indian English: a brief survey. 3. 'Pure' village novels. 4. The rural novel : village-city encounter. 5. The rural novel : industry-village encounter. 6. The rural novel : east-west encounter. 7. Conclusions : the rural novel in Indian English : its achievements and prospects. Bibliography.

"The book is indeed a saga of Indian rural life as depicted in the novels in pre and post-independence days, right from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's domestic novel Rajmohan's Wife (1864) to Kamala Markandaya's The Coffer Dams on an Industrial Background. The pre-independence novels were mostly domestic stories whereas the post-independence novels were confined to the placid rural life. Then, the village-city encounter throbbing with life followed and there came the dynamic village-industry conflict. Lastly, the novels with the theme of east-west confrontation suggesting the globalization of the originally rural India, are explicated. The book contains an analytical and critical survey that provides the necessary material to the readers, researchers and perceptive critics. Agriculture and industry in the fast changing villages and towns of India as also here flora and fauna and mesmerizing nature are ably depicted by the Indian novelists in a pictorial style indicating that in near future India would march towards globalization." (jacket)