Enjoyed this immensely. Amitav Ghos captures the India of the Opium Wars era perfectly, and written more from the point of view of the Indians it offers a very different view of the colonial era that a lot of other novels thus set.
It is based around a motley crew of characters, Indian "coolies" looking to work for the British in Mauritius, prisoners also being transported and the crew of the ship, the Ibis. It is the first part of a trilogy, part two is out now as well, and ends on a perfect cliff hanger that makes you hungry for the next book.
The language used is hard to get into at first, using a lot of dialect and words common to the era, and this makes it a tough read to begin with, but persevere , it will reward you.
The story takes you from the Village where Deeti lives with her opium addicted ex soldier husband, growing poppies to feed the opium habits of the British and Chinese, through the British in their fine houses and finally onto shipboard life. The characterisations are well done, no fat stereotypes here. All in All, a great read.