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A Black Englishman
India, 1920: exotic, glamorous, and painfully wrenching away from England's colonial grip, only to be thrown into ethnic violence and terrorism. Isabel, a young woman in search of herself and in flight from the ravages of the Great War, is thrust headlong into a passionate and dangerous liaison with Sam, an Indian doctor and a graduate of Oxford University who insists, aga...more
Hardcover
Published
November 24th 2004
by Farrar Straus Giroux
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It wasn't love at first sight - the detail of the first few pages meandered through a dreary path: too much richness felt as though nothing truly important or interesting was happening. The slow start, however, merely sets the tone for a compelling read ahead. Seemingly unbelievably stilted characters give way to candid obliqueness and honesty - I found resonance with this complexity.
The narrative is simply written and easy to follow. The metaphors, while intricate, were a little to the right of...more
The narrative is simply written and easy to follow. The metaphors, while intricate, were a little to the right of...more
Set in India in the 1920's, this story is a combination of adventure and romance. Isabel lost her love in the first world war. She decided to gamble on adventure and not on love, so she married an Army guy whom she barely knew because he was stationed in India. Her father had lived in India as a child, and she needed something new in life. Immediately upon her arrival she is struck by how rigid the English Army society is. The list of things she could not do as a woman has multiplied astronomica...more
Aug 18, 2007
Ron Ice
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hopeless romantics
The stupidity of racism
A classic story of forbidden love, a wealthy englishwoman in India despises her brutish military husband and falls for a refined Oxford educated Indian doctor in the early part of the twentieth century. The novel provoked very vivid images of life and attitudes in that time. Very moving images portrayed of attitudes toward minorities (including women) in that time. The landscape is lush and contstantly changing. The trials that the lovers face are of course overcome at the end. An emotional read...more
Enjoyed the story overall, even tho it's not my usual sort of read. Lots of history of India and the customs of the raj during the ealry 1920's. The author has a way of making the scene very real and you can almost feel the humidity! I found the writing to be a bit of-putting. Embedded conversation made it difficult to read, and a few more paragraphs would have helped - but that is my opinion! Other members of my book club loved the writing style.
this is a wonderful story about the strengthening of a strong woman. I have a thing for books based in India, and this was another really good read. The story of a free-spirited woman caught in the violent web of her vengeful husband, and breaking a lot of social mores to conduct an affair with a black Indian educated in England, and set in the 1930's, this was a really good read.
If there were 3 1/2 stars I would have given it that rating. I found myself remembering studying India in Social Studies in Grade 6. I had forgotten about Ghandi and the religious unrest at during that time period. I was happy to learn what I learned :) I would never have chosen this book myself and I am glad I picked it up and finished it.
I wasn't sure if I would like this, but after the first two chapters I was hooked - you really get to love the main characters and feel like you are in India! There are a couple of violent descriptions but I think at the time, those things would have happened. Here's to strong heroines in the 1920s :-)
It took me just a few pages to get into this book and then I was off. The history and story line kept me hooked in and I found it enthralling. I had never heard of this book before it was a selection in our bookclub. So glad I got to read it.
This is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. I love the lovers who transcend love and create this amazing tapestry of emotion and hope that really drew me into their lives and inspired me.
This book didn’t make an instant fan out of me – I thought the storyline was a bit weak but Slaughter filled in the gaps and kept me intrigued with her exquisite skill in description. She painted such a vivid, colorful image of the characters, wardrobes, and settings that I eventually came to realize the details were as much a character in the story as any of the human characters, perhaps even more so. I came to like the characters and even love one of them. I may not have been captivated right...more
This book was so sensual. The description of food, fabric, cultural realities, and love were invigorating. I loved it. I would truly rate this book as 4 1/2 stars.
Loved this book. Set in India, a love story between a woman from Wales and an Indian doctor who was educated in Britain. Based on a true story.
Aug 19, 2012
Lauren
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
peace-corps-read,
historical-fiction
Would give this a 3.5. A good read with a good historical fiction story but not a page turner by any means.
I gave up on it. IMO, the summary is false advertising (or good marketing). I found the writing very average, the story a bit anemic, and Isabel annoying. Even the dramatic events in this novel are not delivered in a way that elicits an emotional response from the reader. Overall, a bit of a yawn, when I have more interesting reads waiting on my shelf. Not worth my time.
India = Indian Dr.
british woman = romance, politices = scandal
british woman = romance, politices = scandal
Many things are being taken for granted if you're white and born in Europe. A Black Englishman makes one think hard about so many of the amenities that we have. It is a novel, but a demanding one, of a kind that puts questions in front of a reader and then answers with giving more questions.
And although the typeface used to print my book is ridiculously small, I'm really glad I made an effort and pushed past first few pages.
And although the typeface used to print my book is ridiculously small, I'm really glad I made an effort and pushed past first few pages.
Pretty interesting so far!
Carrie Bouton's mom rec
Amazing story telling
Mar 02, 2008
Pamela Pickering
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
historical-fiction
A very interesting story about gender roles and rights, politics, and cultural clashes in colonial India around WWI. An English woman married to an English soldier (it was the thing to do) moves to India and finds her great romance. Her great romance is with both an Indian man and India itself. Very entertaining and well written. My only complaint would be that it is one of those publications that does not use quotation marks but I did not notice it as much in this story as I have others.
A love story about a Welsh girl who marries a British soldier and goes to live in India in the final days of British rule. After the failure of her marriage she falls in love with an Indian doctor who has been educated in England and the book is about the difficulties they face as a couple...one white and one black in India . Beautifully written and interesting in what it says about women and how they were treated in India at that time.
The author's style is nicely unique. A measured cadence. I happen to love colonial literature. This book is largely a love story. Smaller amount of historicism. Not a must-read but I did look forward to picking it up each time.
This took me a while to get into but I really enjoyed this story of Isabel who marries and goes to India after WW1. Nothing is the same after she meets Sam the Indian doctor. It is full of the history of India at that time before independence which makes it really interesting. One gripe; why would a good editor let through the word 'chuffed'the mouth of an Edwardian character. How picky am I :)
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Dec 07, 2008
Marie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in India or in stories set in other countries
The author reimagined the tragic life of her own grandmother, who lived in India as an independent-minded young woman and fell in love with a British-educated Indian doctor. Full of gender and racial politics, and the dark strife during the time of the Raj in India, it was a satisfying, adventurous story of star-crossed lovers.
Extremely well-written. The story draws one in and makes one feel the emotions, suffering, joy, of the characters. Stories likes these fill me with horror though thinking that we have the right, nay the obligation to 'civilise' to 'educate' and interfere where in fact we have no right to be.
I really enjoyed this poco novel. Set at the fall of the british empire, it's a romance/journey/struggle that is probably a bit too relationship-y to teach in class, but it was the first novel I've read in awhile, and worth it!
Picked it up at Hodges Figgis in Dublin for 3 Euro 99.
Picked it up at Hodges Figgis in Dublin for 3 Euro 99.
A tale of forbidden romance between an Engish educated Indian doctor and the wife of a British soldier stationed in India in the 1920's - loved this book.
the first half of this book was ok..I enjoyed the second half more.
Mar 25, 2008
flajol
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
reading-group,
romance
I often felt the author lost touch with the era in which the book is set. Some of the descriptions of people and situation just felt too modern.
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