MY NIME LIVES

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala takes her own life and turns it into a "what if?" scenario: nine versions of what her life might have been had she taken different paths. Each of her characters begins as Jhabvala did, but veers off into an imaginary direction, including an affair with a pianist, a return to India in old age, and devotion to a famous guru. The chapter headings include pen-and-ink drawings by C.S.H. Jhabvala, the author''s architect husband, who has illustrated several of her books or their jackets.