3 Review(s)

Rusty returns to his beloved hills, never to leave again Rusty Comes Home is the fifth and final volume in Puffin's complete collection of Ruskin Bond's ever-popular Rusty stories. A lonely and sensitive boy who lost his father early, Rusty spent his childhood in boarding schools and with relatives in Dehra. While still a teenager, he ran away from his foster home and had myriad adventures before landing up in London with the ambition of becoming a writer. This book chronicles Rusty's exploits after his return from London, as he explores Delhi, Dehra and the small, dusty town of Shahganj before settling down in Mussoorie, making his living as a writer, and revelling in the hills that have always fascinated him. Rusty Comes Home contains some captivating stories about Rusty's friends and fleeting acquaintances, about human nature and the supernatural. Among his friends in Shahganj are Ketan, a victim of the Partition and prone to paralytic fits; Madhu, a child whose life is tragically cut short, but not before she leaves an indelible impression on Rusty; and Suresh, a disabled child with whom Rusty strikes up a close bond. In Dehra he meets up with his genial Uncle Bill, who makes it his habit to poison people with arsenic; the incredible Jimmy, a jinn who can extend his arms at will to infinite lengths; and Miss Pettibone, the oldest resident of Dehra, who enthralls him with riveting stories from the town's past. Then there is the unnamed basket-selling girl he meets by chance on the Deoli railway platform and can never forget; and Binya, a young and vivacious widow, who floats into his life on the strains of a song. Full of charming and idiosyncratic characters, these stories of love, loss and adventure will appeal to young readers of all ages.