GIFTS OF PASSAGE; An Informal Autobiography

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1958. First Edition. Cloth and boards. Fine/Very Good +. SIGNED by the Author on the front free endpaper, 8vo, protective clear archival film sleeve over dust jacket (unclipped), red endpapers, 223 pages + [1] About the Author. Generally SUPERIOR CONDITION: slight rubbing, a touch of soil, and some abraisions along the edges of the dust jacket (unclipped) and the head and foot of the spine. Santha Rama Rau (1923 - 2009) was an Indian-born American journalist and novelist. Her paternal family was highly distinguished: physicians, businessmen, members of Parliament. When India became independent, her father became ambasador to Japan. Building on this rich background, Rama Rau adapted the novel A Passage to India for the theater, with author E. M. Forster's approval. She was wrote a series of highly informed travelogues and novels: Home to India, East of Home, This is India, Remember the House (a novel), My Russian Journey, GIFTS OF PASSAGE (her fascinating autobiography), The Adventuress, (a novel), View to the Southeast, and An Inheritance, as well as co-author (with Gayatri Devi) of A Princess Remembers: the memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur.--New York Times obituary, 4/24/2009.