Staying On

By: Paul Scott

Narrated by: Paul Shelley

Tusker and Lily Smalley stayed on in India. Given the chance to return ‘home’ when Tusker, once a Colonel in the British Army, retired, they chose instead to remain in the small hill town of Pankot, with its eccentric inhabitants and archaic rituals left over from the days of the Empire. Only the tyranny of their imposing landlady threatens to upset the quiet rhythm of their days. Both funny and deeply moving, 'Staying On' is a unique, engrossing portrait of the end of an empire and of a forty-year love affair.

©1977 Paul Scott (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great book, nicely read, but read the raj quartet first. This is in many ways a sequel.

Paul Scott was a brilliant writer and knew the late Raj very well. This book is a lovely follow-up to the Raj Quartet. Highly recommend all 5 books.

Paul Scott, one of greats of British literature.

What made the experience of listening to Staying On the most enjoyable?

The sensitivity, the humor, the storytelling, and language of a great British novelist.

What other book might you compare Staying On to and why?

The Short Stories of William Trevor, because of the seamless manner with which both authors move between the past. the present and the future, the internal dialogue and the external action. The sensibilities of the characters and thus the authors. Their subtlety and ability to spot the quiet moral dilemmas of ordinary lives.

Have you listened to any of Paul Shelley’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I don't believe so.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Paul Scott, author of the Raja Quartet, as well as a number of other wonderful novels, is one of the most overlooked and greatest writers of the 20th Century. In that respect he is like John Fowles, who wrote the Magus, which is perhaps one of the top five novels of the 20th Century and which sadly and inexplicitly has never been made into an audible book.

No wonder it won the Booker prize

I had tears in my eyes at the end and yet the novel is terribly funny. I had watched The Jewel in The Crown, then listened to the forth of the Raj quartets, followed by Staying On to find out what happened to Sarah Leighton and read about the sociology of those who stayed on. Of course . To my delight, I got much more. What a brilliant little story.

i felt like i was part of the characters lives

What a well written book with a rather bleak ending i was so sad to say goodbye to the characters , they were written in a way that i felt i knew them and was apart of their everyday lives. Poor poor lucy

Exquisite Novel

It is roughly 25 years since I read Paul Scott’s “Staying On,” which I remembered as beautifully poignant. Having just read E.M. Forster’s “Passage to India,” I decided to re-visit “Staying On” exquisite details, comically charming characters, and a setting in time as India and England shift their positions on the worlds political game-board.