Based on an aside in Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, in which he mentions a brief but seductive youthful flirtation with an Englishwoman, The Woman...
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reviews
Oct 28, 2009
Gwen
rated it: 
Keith Heller provides a lovely historical fiction set shortly after WWII in England. The Woman Who Knew Gandhi tells the story from the perspective of a woman who knew Gandhi (I couldn't help myself). Shortly after her parents passing, Martha moved into her aunt's house, which was a questionable affair, it being a quicky hotel type of place and her being so young. Although people question her upbringing, she educates herself in her aunt's basement by reading old books. It is when she is a teen
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Dec 12, 2007
Candice
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This entire book was based on a short passage in Gandhi's autobiography wherein he mentions a brief youthful flirtation with an Englishwoman. Since the passage is so brief, the author had lots of freedom in fictionalizing their story.
He chose to make the Englishwoman, Martha Houghton, an ordinary English housewife, which made for good reading. Most of us can identify with ordinary people, even a 75-year-old Englishwoman in 1948. The author imagines that the initial meeting led to More...
He chose to make the Englishwoman, Martha Houghton, an ordinary English housewife, which made for good reading. Most of us can identify with ordinary people, even a 75-year-old Englishwoman in 1948. The author imagines that the initial meeting led to More...
May 23, 2007
Nitya
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Someday, I'd love for someone to find a batch of the hundreds of postcards I've sent to friends over the years and use them to recreate the relationship I had with that friend and the person I was. What sketchy details would be picked out to support what shaky theories?
Heller's Woman Who Knew Gandhi tries not to be a history of Gandhi's suspect relationship with a girl from his days as a student in Britain. That would be far too People Magazine for a true historian. Instead, the stor More...
Heller's Woman Who Knew Gandhi tries not to be a history of Gandhi's suspect relationship with a girl from his days as a student in Britain. That would be far too People Magazine for a true historian. Instead, the stor More...
Oct 24, 2010
Alesa
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This was an amazing book, surprisingly short and yet very deep. The author sketches out a correspondence that Gandhi actually had with an Englishwoman. In doing so, he asks important questions about the nature of friendship and marriage, and how relationships change over time. The language is gorgeous yet spare. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Dec 05, 2011
Jean
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The writing was lovely and thoughtful in this story about an imagined friendship of many years between an English woman and Gandhi. The story also explores marriage and relationships within and without families. Very well done; I found this book at a library book sale, and I'm glad I read it.
Apr 06, 2011
Bcoghill
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Interesting due to the Gandhi link but unexpectedly as relates to older people relating to their adult children. Probably, because that is where I am in the life cycle.
Mar 17, 2009
Jill
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I wanted to like this a lot more because of the intriguing plot line - a fictional account of an Englishwoman whom Ghandi had a friendship with (she is mentioned in his autobiography so she was a real person but not much is known about her). The book is beautifully written but I disliked the main character enough to really not be able to enjoy the book very much. Some women in my book club loved this book, however.
Oct 05, 2011
Cody
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I would give this 3.5 stars. It would have felt more dynamic if it was non-fiction. It did represent a perfect balance of a love story that wasn't really a love story. I think everyone can relate it to a relationship they've had at one time or another-- a relationship of their own that they thought was more (or less for that matter) than what it really was.
Sep 17, 2007
She is an English matron, and the other man was Gandhi. An enticing premise for a novel that explores postwar England and its relationship w/India, a woman's independence, and the fragile bond of marriage. It's a surprising sleeper of a novel that would make for an excellent book club discussion.
Sep 25, 2008
this is written by Bonnie France's paramour! I actually enjoyed it and even read another he wrote, "Snow on the Moon."
Dec 17, 2009
Edith
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I love books like this that imagine a facet of a historical figure's life and fleshes out what might have been . . .
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