In-Person

World Books with Elizabeth Jackson

Friday, March 20, 2026 | 12:00pm

Mar 20

Explore literary fiction written in English by prominent authors from outside of Europe and north America. In 2026, we'll focus on Indian writers, discussing classic works by six of the most famous Indian authors writing in English during the postcolonial era.

The journey begins in the spring:

March 20: Attia Hosain's Sunlight on a Broken Column (1961), a poignant account of the experiences of a young woman from an upper-class Muslim family during the Independence and Partition era of the 1940s.
April 17: R.K. Narayan's The Painter of Signs (1976), a story of Indian village life that examines changing gender ideologies and social norms.
May 15: Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day (1980), an insightful portrayal of family relationships over time, interweaving with political events in Delhi.

Free to Mercantile members and their guests. After March 20 session, email hillary@mercantilelibrary.com to register.

A second session in the fall will examine three more books, including works by Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy.

About Elizabeth Jackson: Growing uprew up in five different nations and as a dual US/UK citizen, Jackson has always been interested in literature from around the world. She has a BA from Smith College in the US and a PhD from the University of London in Britain. From 2011 until her retirement in 2024, she was a Professor of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, where she taught a range of courses in English, American, and postcolonial literatures. She is the author of numerous articles in academic journals and three books: Feminism and Contemporary Indian Women's Writing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010); Muslim Indian Women Writing in English: Class Privilege, Gender Disadvantage, Minority Status (Peter Lang, 2017); and Global Childhoods and Cosmopolitan Identities in Literature (2022).