Two Lives (non-fiction)
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Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crosswor ...
's second non-fiction work, ''Two Lives'', is the story of a century and of a love affair across an ethnic divide. As the name suggests, it is a story of two extraordinary lives, that of his great uncle, Shanti Behari Seth, and of his
German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
great aunt, Hennerle Gerda Caro. ''Two Lives'' is divided into five parts, beginning with the teenage author going to live with his uncle and aunt in England for higher studies at the
Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...
. His first year is followed by intense travel in Europe. After completing his A-levels, Seth moves on to continue his education at
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and Stanford, all the while remaining in contact with his guardian uncle and aunt. The story delves intricately into the ups and downs of the lives of his uncle and aunt. The text is frequently interspersed with photographs, letters, anecdotes based on Shanti’s interviews with the author, and other sources. It won the 2006
Vodafone Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...
.


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Review by Antony Beevor
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, September 3, 2005 (Retrieved on 2013-10-18)
Togetherness, once removed
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, September 11, 2005 (Retrieved on 2008-10-08)
Review
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, 17 September 2005 (Retrieved on 2008-10-08) Biographical books Books by Vikram Seth Little, Brown and Company books 2005 non-fiction books {{ethno-book-stub