Mr Sampath-The Printer of Malgudi, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma: Introduction by Alexander McCall Smith

In the novels of R. K. Narayan (1906-2001), the forefather of modern Indian fiction, human-scale hopes and epiphanies express the promise of a nation as it awakens to its place in the world. The three novels brought together in this volume, all written after India’s independence, are masterpieces of social comedy, rich in local color and abounding in affectionate humor and generosity of spirit.

Mr. Sampath–The Printer of Malgudi is the story of a businessman who adapts to the collapse of his...