In 1948, just after Gandhi's assassination, Martha Houghton receives a letter from Gandhi's son, who himself lies dying of tuberculosis in Bombay. Having found a stash of her letters to his father, he asks to meet her. The request sends Martha into a tailspin, for her husband knows nothing of her friendship with Gandhi. Nor does the small English town in which she lives.

Martha and her husband are forced to reevaluate their long marriage, and Martha must find a way to reconcile the disparate halves of her life. Moreover, their small community becomes a magnet for the press, and Martha finds her words twisted and used against her.

Postwar Britain provides a vivid backdrop for this drama of marriage and friendship, history and place. Martha must decide whether to heed Harilal Gandhi's wishes and travel to India to meet him, or to remain in England and mend the rift in her marriage. Based on an aside in Gandhi's autobiography, when he mentions a brief but seductive youthful flirtation with an Englishwoman, The Woman Who Knew Gandhi lovingly imagines a long correspondence between a spiritual leader from the East and an everyday woman from the West.

Charmingly and beautifully written, The Woman Who Knew Gandhi is ultimately about the many definitions of love and friendship, and the surprises of marriage.

"Post-WWII England and India provide an evocative backdrop as Heller explores the fragile bonds between marriage partners, friends, parents and their children, and breathes realistic life into Gandhi and his improbable paramour." Publishers Weekly

"A pleasant, homely tale of small lives intersecting with the great. The American author gets postwar Britain's cramped atmosphere just right." Kirkus Reviews

"Although it is not quite as cozy as the work of D. E. Stevenson and lacks the finesse and substance displayed in Barbara Pym's novels, this tale will still please readers of English village fiction." Ellen Loughran, Booklist

"Heller deftly explores the landscape of a long-lasting marriage, reminding us that relationships continually evolve and are rarely easy to define. Though quiet in tone, the novel moves quickly. Recommended." Library Journal

Based on an aside in Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, in which he mentions a brief but seductive youthful flirtation with an Englishwoman, The Woman Who Knew Gandhi boldly imagines a long correspondence between a spiritual leader from the East and an ordinary woman from the West. In 1948, just after Gandhi's assassination, Martha Houghton receives a letter from Gandhi's son, who himself lies dying of tuberculosis in Bombay. Having found a stash of her letters to his father, he asks to meet her. The request sends Martha into a tailspin, for her husband knows nothing of her lifelong friendship with Gandhi. Martha and her husband are forced to reevaluate their long marriage, and she must find a way to reconcile the disparate halves of her life. Moreover, their small community becomes a magnet for the press, and Martha finds her words twisted and used against her. Ultimately, she must decide whether to meet her old son's friend on his deathbed, or to remain in England and mend the rift in her marriage. Charmingly and elegantly written, The Woman Who Knew Gandhi explores the many definitions of love and friendship and the surprises of marriage.

Based on an aside in Gandhi's autobiography, when he mentions a brief but seductive youthful flirtation with an Englishwoman, "The Woman Who Knew Gandhi" lovingly imagines a long correspondence between a spiritual leader from the East and an everyday woman from the West.

Keith Heller, born in Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1949, has written four previous novels. He has taught English in the United States, Japan, Madrid, and Argentina. He currently lives in California, where he writes full time. His fiction has been published in numerous literary journals. Heller has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize anthology and was a finalist for the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction.