A Meeting by the River - Softcover

Two English brothers meet, after a long separation, in India. Oliver, the idealistic younger brother, prepares to take his final vows as a Hindu monk. Patrick, a successful publisher with a wife and children in London and a male lover in California, has publicly admired his brother’s convictions while privately criticizing his choices.

First published in 1967, A Meeting by the River delicately depicts the complexity of sibling relationships—the resentment and competitiveness as well as the love and respect. Ultimately, the brothers’ exposure to each other’s differences deepens their awareness of themselves. In A Meeting by the River, Christopher Isherwood dramatizes the conflict between sexuality and spirituality that inspired his late writings.

"A radiant novel of mystical devotion and worldly desire by a master of English prose." Chicago Tribune

"Brilliant, vital, challenging . . . very strange and very lovely." Book Week

Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) was born in England and later lived in Berlin and finally California. A pioneer in exploring gay themes in his writing, he is best known for his classic works The Berlin Stories (the basis of the movie and stage successes I Am a Camera and Cabaret) and Christopher and His Kind.