Bestselling book to major TV series

‘If something in the script did not ring true in the context of early post-independence India - and how could Andrew possibly have known every detail of that? - I pointed it out, and he took it on board. As for plot cuts and changes; it had been a long time since I wrote A Suitable Boy, so I was somewhat teflonised against what happened to every minor incident or character.

I would not compromise with the essence, the core of the book, but I was less bothered about the periphery. There were several occasions where I thought: "That's brilliant, Andrew. It really works. It may not be what I wrote; but it's true to the spirit of the book and the characters.'

Vikram Seth, author of three novels, A Suitable Boy, The Golden Gate and An Equal Music, three non-fiction books, including From Heaven Lake, and eight books of poetry, talking in The Times about his working relationship with scriptwriter Andrew Davies on the dramatisation of A Suitable Boy which is just about to be shown by the BBC in the UK and by Netflix in India.