In The Day of the Scorpion, Scott draws us deeper in to his epic of
India at the close of World War II. With force and subtlety, he
recreates both private ambition and perversity, and the politics of an
entire subcontinent at a turning point in history.
As the scorpian, encircled by a ring of fire, will sting itself to
death, so does the British raj hasten its own destruction when
threatened by the flames of Indian independence. Brutal repression and
imprisonment of India's leaders cannot still the cry for home rule. And
in the midst of chaos, the English Laytons withdraw from a world they no
longer know to seek solace in denial, drink, and madness.