Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is well-known for her scriptwriting credits, which include "A Room With a View" and "Howards End", both of which won Academy Awards. She won the Booker Prize for "Heat and Dust", in 1975, the Neil Gunn International Fellowship in 1978, the MacArthur Foundation Award in 1984 and was made a CBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List. Her other books include "Like Birds, Like Fishes", "A Stronger Climate", "How I Became a Holy Mother", "An Experience of India", "To Whom She Will", "The Nature of Passion", "Esmond in India", "The Householder" and "Get Ready for Battle".

'A writer of genius ! a writer of world class -- a master storyteller' -- Sunday Times 'An allusiveness, a susceptibility to mood, a tenderness to which Chekhov was the exemplar' -- V. S. Pritchett 'Marvellous ! each story perfectly constructed and complete' -- Jane Gardam 'Her tussle with India is one of the richest treats of contemporary literature' -- Guardian 'Brutally honest, these stories cut straight to the heart of the matter' -- The Good Book Guide 20031101 'Seductive ! intelligent and frank ! Jhabvala's troubled fragments provide consolation, not in art, but in the understanding that differences between continents and cultures cannot deny the common core of human yearnings' -- Times Literary Supplement 20031101

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was born in Germany of Polish parents and came to England in 1939 at the age of twelve. She graduated from Queen Mary College, London University, and married an architect. They lived in Delhi from 1951 to 1975. Since then they have divided their time between Delhi, New York and London. As well as her numerous novels and short stories, in collaboration with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has written scripts for film and television, including A Room with a View and Howards End, both of which are Academy Award winners. She won the Booker Prize for Heat and Dust in 1975, the Neil Gunn International Fellowship in 1978, the MacArthur Foundation Award in 1984 and was made a CBE in the 1998 New Year's Honours List.