At seventeen, V.S. Naipaul wanted to "follow no other profession" but
writing. Awarded a scholarship by the Trinidadian government, he set out
to attend Oxford, where he was encountered a vastly different world
from the one he yearned to leave behind. Separated from his family by
continents, and grappling with depression, financial strain, loneliness,
and dislocation, "Vido" bridged the distance with a faithful
correspondence that began shortly before the young man's two-week
journey to England and ended soon after his father's death four years
later.
Here, for the first time, we have the opportunity to read
this profoundly moving correspondence, which illuminates with unalloyed
candor the relationship between a sacrificing father and his determined
son as the encourage each other to persevere with their writing. For
though his father's literary aspirations would go unrealized, Naipaul's
triumphant career would ultimately vindicate his beloved mentor's
legacy.
