Two Lives B

　　TWO LIVES tells the remarkable story of Seth's great uncle andaunt. His great uncle Shanti left India for medical school inBerlin in the 1930s and lodged with a German Jewish family. In thehousehold was a daughter, Henny, who urged her mother 'not to takethe blackie'. But a friendship developed and each managed to leaveGermany and found their way to Britain as the Nazis rose to power.Shanti joined the army and lost his right arm at the battle ofMonte Cassino, while Henny (whose family were to die in the camps)made a life for herself in her adopted country. After the war theymarried and lived the emigre life in north London where Shanti,despite the loss of his arm, became a much-loved dentist. Duringhis own adolescence in England, Vikram Seth lived with Shanti andHenny and came to know and love them deeply. His is the third lifein this story of TWO LIVES. This is also a book about history,encompassing as it does many of the most significant themes andevents in the 20th century, whose currents are reflected in thelives of Shanti, Henny and their family: from the Raj and theIndian freedom movement to the Third Reich, the Holocaust andBritish postwar society.