Magnificent novel of Empire and its aftermathFirst published in 1954 in the wake of the partition of India, John Masters’ great novel Bhowani Junction has increased in stature over the years. Standing between E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India and the widely acclaimed works of such writers as Paul Scott and Salman Rushdie, Bhowani Junction is both a richly intriguing novel and a superb evocation of the tensions and conflicts at the birth of modern India.