European Royalty discussion
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History Nominations
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Jan. 1 - Feb. 1: Voting!
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I would like to vote for White Mughals - it sounds very interesting.
I vote for Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman!
Ok, just to make it difficult I'm going for Seige of Krisnapur. I've read O&J and TFP and this one's been on my wish list for ages.Who is going to be the tie breaker?
Okay, I just changed my vote (I'm really indecisive right now!). I'm voting for The Far Pavilion.
Shoot - they all sound good! Luckily, as moderator I only vote in case of a tie. So... no ties! Thanks! :)
I had a hard time choosing too! So I picked the book I nominated!
Somehow I think I'm going to be reading this book for the third time.......Nothing wrong with that though :)
Well, I think you're right, Misfit. The first read in the new year will be The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye.Enjoy, all! Have a happy holiday and fantastic New Year and I'll see you in this general area for some great discussion in 2009!
-emily
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European Royalty
Books mentioned in this topic
The Far Pavilions (other topics)White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India (other topics)
Olivia And Jai (other topics)
The Siege of Krishnapur (other topics)
The Far Pavilions (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
M.M. Kaye (other topics)J.G. Farrell (other topics)
Rebecca Ryman (other topics)
M.M. Kaye (other topics)
William Dalrymple (other topics)
#1 - White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India by William Dalrymple
From Publisher's Weekly: "Dalrymple, author of the bestselling In Xanadu, now anchors himself in India around the turn of the 19th century to focus on James Kirkpatrick, an officer for the East India Company and the British Resident, representing the British government, in the Indian city-state of Hyderabad. Kirkpatrick, who converted to Islam and, after a celebrated and notorious romance, married Khair un-Nissa, the teenage great-niece of the region's prime minister, exemplifies the "White Mughals," British colonialists who "went native." One of the book's strengths is its stunningly detailed depiction of day-to-day life-gardens, food, sexual mores, modes of travel and architecture-and portraits of British governors-general, Indian politicians, their wives and families, and adventurers. It is also an astute study of the political complications Kirkpatrick faced because of his conversion and cross-cultural marriage, and the difficulties his divided loyalties caused him in his role as agent of the increasingly imperialistic British. But most suspenseful is the fate of Kirkpatrick's willful and charismatic wife, just 19 when he died in 1805, and the fate of their children. The twists and turns in the life of their daughter-sent to England when she was five, never to return to India or see her mother again-are fascinating. Dalrymple makes note of the present schism, which some believe unbridgeable, between Western and Eastern civilizations and Kirkpatrick's tale as a counterexample that the two can meet."
#2 - The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
When The Far Pavilions was first published nineteen years ago, it moved the critic Edmund Fuller to write this: "Were Miss Kaye to produce no other book, The Far Pavilions might stand as a lasting accomplishment in a single work comparable to Margaret Mitchell's achievement in Gond With the Wind."
From its beginning in the foothills of the towering Himalayas, M.M. Kaye's masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that ranks with the greatest panoramic sagas of modern fiction.
The Far Pavilions is itself a Himalayan achievement, a book we hate to see come to an end. it is a passionate, triumphant story that excites us, fills us with joy, move us to tears, satisfies us deeply, and helps us remember just what it is we want most from a novel.
Kaye spent most of her life in the far east, as did her father and her knowledge of the people and the culture shines through in all her books.
#3 - The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell
From Amazon: By turns witty and compassionate, The Siege of Krishnapur comprises the best of all fictional worlds: unforgettable characters, an epic adventure, and at its heart a cultural clash for the ages. Quite simply, this is a splendid novel.
#4 - Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman
From Publishers Weekly
Set against an exotic background complete with a tiger hunt and the opium trade of 19th-century India, a tragedy of surprising scope is played out here. In the center is pseudonymous Ryman's heroine, freethinking American Olivia O'Rourke, who comes to Calcutta's "village of palaces" to visit her relatives Sir Joshua and Lady Bridget Templewood. Her radiant innocence proves out of place in the stiflingly proper atmosphere, and from the moment her path crosses that of the enigmatic Eurasian Jai Raventhorne she is caught up in an obsessive affair, with only her formidable intelligence and courage enabling her to endure Jai's savage betrayal of herself, her aunt and her uncle. Yet her romantic ordeal transforms Olivia into as ruthless an adversary as the man to whom she gave her love and trust, and out of the ill-fated choices she must make a great cynicism is forged. Beneath the propriety of the staid expatriate British community in Calcutta fester secrets of unspeakable defilements, and Ryman, a spellbinding storyteller, captivates the reader from the first page.
Happy Voting!