SOURCE: "As the Raj Turns," in The New Republic, Vol. 208, No. 24, June 14, 1993, pp. 41-4.

Jenkyns is an English educator and critic. In the following review, he argues that A Suitable Boy lacks fully developed characters and that the domestic and public dimensions of the book have not been integrated.

In The Golden Gate, the brilliant verse novel about life in California that made his name, Vikram Seth tells us that he started rhyming (in English) at the age of 3. The whole of that book is written in tetrameter sonnets, including the dedication, the table of contents and the author's biography at the back. Since his name is pronounced something like "sate," he has made even the title page rhyme: The Golden Gate / by Vikram Seth. The literary taste behind this is delightfully broad and unpretentious; Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children are quoted as much as, if not more...