Two Lives by Vikram Seth

Two Lives is a part-memoir/part biography by the acclaimed author of A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth.  Primarily based on letters between each other and friends, Two Lives accounts for the lives of his great-uncle Shanti, an Indian immigrant to Germany prior to World War II, and his great-aunt Henny, a Jewish German.
The book is divided into five parts: the author's relationship with his great-aunt and uncle, his uncle's life prior and post- World War II, his aunt's discovery of events during the war and how she comes to terms with the horrific revelations, his aunt and uncle's life in England together post-World War II and finally, the author's process in writing the book.

Vikram Seth is a gifted writer and his writing style has earned him worldwide accolades. One can not deny his talent; however, my interest level waned between each parts.  The first part served a as satisfying introduction as it revealed the author's relationship with this the main characters.  While parts of Uncle Shanti's story intrigued me, I was most fascinated by his Aunty Henny's story.  While Henny was able to immigrate to England prior to World War II's onset through the assistance of a close Christian family friend, her Jewish friends and family were not as fortunate.  Rather than describing first-hand experiences of the Holocaust, the book takes a unique perspective as Henny discovers the war's horrors after the war, including the tragic deaths of her sister and mother, via correspondance with her Christian friends.  Henny must also come to terms with deciding which Christian friends to trust and keep allegiance with based on their treatment to fellow Jews during the war.
"For most of them (non-Jewish Germans), the war was only a misfortune because they lost it and as a result don't have anything to eat. That there are people who wish to dissociate themsleves from them, seems incomprehensible to them."

Shanti had first-hand experience of the war, where he served as a military based dentist.  This ultimately lost him his arm.  During the war, he corresponded with Henny declaring his love for her.  They were friends prior to the war in Germany, during this time Henny was in committed relationship with a non-Jewish German.  During the war, Shanti gained the courage to declare his affection towards Henny who although she was no longer dating the German man appeared to not have any romantic feelings towards Shanti.  It was only when Shanti arrived in London did she recognize her interest in marrying him.  While Henny grew to love Shanti, it appears that Shanti always held a more ardent love for his wife than she did towards him.
This one-sided, lukewarm relationship contributed toward the bland nature of the book's fourth part, describing their life London post-World War II.

The final part regained my interest, as it described the author's journey as a writer and path leading towards writing this book.  While I was bored and skimmed through several portions of the book, this book piqued me interest in Vikram Seth and let me to committ myself to reading his acclaimed, mega-sized 1400 page novel "A Suitable Boy".