Author: Ruskin Bond
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2014
Language: English
Pages: 223
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9780140239591
Description
'Vagrants in the Valley' carries on where 'The Room on the Roof' leaves off, narrating the adolescent Rusty's further wanderings and adventures in search of an identity. Who was he, and where did he come from?
‘In the Room on the Roof’, Rusty, a sixteen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy, decides he has had enough of the tiny, diminishing European community and his tyrannical guardian, and runs away. To his delight, Rusty finds that life on the open road is packed with excitement and high adventure...
‘In Vagrants in the Valley’, which picks up from where the first book ends, Rusty is joined in his travels by Kishen, another “runaway”. As they venture further into the unknown, they discover new friends and participate in more escapades but also begin to understand the complexities of growing up and the boundaries that circumscribe even the freest spirits… Sharply observed, witty and wise, haunted on every page by the sight, smells and sounds of India, this evocation of youth, innocence and friendship will be read for a long time to come with deep, lasting pleasure
Mr. Bond is a writer of great gifts…..
—The new Statesman
…has a simple charm and engaging directness.
—The Statesman
Contents
Introduction
The Room on the Roof
Vagrants in the Valley
The Homeless
The Forest Road
A Place to Sleep
The Old Church
New Encounters
Prospect of a Journey
The Lafunga
To the Hills
Rum and Curry
Lady with a Hookah
The Road to Rishikesh
End of a Journey
First and Last Impressions
Start of a Journey