About this title: Beigh Masters, descended from the Puritans, lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with an Indian computer scientist named Venn. She comes across the records of an ancestor, Hannah Easton, who was raised in Salem, married an Englishman, traveled with her husband to India, and became mistress to a Raja.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780394588469ISBN:0394588460
Description: Good. 50-U-Add Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: 1st
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred a Knopf, N. Y.
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780394588469ISBN:0394588460
Description: Cover Art. Very Good in Very Good jacket. Hard Back. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. X-Library with normal flaws.........The hard cover and the jacket has very light shelf wear..........We are very careful when we list our books, but sometimes something minor may get by. read more
Edition: 5th
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Fawcett Columbine, N. Y.
Date Published: 1993
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. Trade Paperback. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Tall. The book has very light shelf wear.......The book may have minor flaws that have went unnoticed.. read more
"In retrospect, this was maybe a two-and-a-halfer ... kind of boggy and not as engaging as I kept expecting it to be. But still an interesting and original weave of colonial American/colonial Indian historical fiction."
"Someone needs to reissue this with a better cover.
There is a staggering amount of plot in this book. Somehow it manages to combine puritan orphans, witch trials, pirates, serial killing, feminism, treasure hunting, concubines, and battles featuring elephants in full armor in 1600s India. Mukherjee's world creation is historically authentic (as far as I can tell) and full of fascinating details about an India I know nearly nothing about. I also think this might make an amazing movie .
This is three stars for me because I had a hard time connecting with the material - even though I think its interesting, well executed stuff. Fans of historical fiction, romance, and literary fiction might want to give this a try - I think you might like it more than I did."
"There's a crazy story behind me reading this book. So my partner was going to take this class, and I happened to work briefly at a textbook store. I enjoyed looking at the books for different courses, and one course on Asian American literature had this book, when I had not previously seen, though I'd heard of the author.
It looked amazing of its own accord, and it looked quite relevant to the secret story I'm writing. They're sort of similar, and I thought I had been super original.
Later, I made the connection that the course this book was for was also the class my partner was going to take, and she had already ordered this book. Crazy. She ended up not taking the class, which left the book free for me to read.
So it's definitely helpful as historical background, setting, and details for my story, but it's also good on its own. I was expecting me, because I love historical fiction. I've enjoyed other historical fiction about colonial America and about India, and this author is apparently acclaimed and well-known.
The story was good and kept me interested the whole time, the details were unique, and there were some intriguing sub-plots and twists to the story, and it has that sense of all these ideas, events, people, places, etc becoming connected over the span of centuries and continents.
The book offers a critique of colonialism and colonialists, early capitalism, emperors and kings, and puritan society. The narrative is told by a unique white woman's voice, and revolves around the remarkable adventures and courageous acts of one to two (depending on the part of the book) strong, independent women, one Euro-American and one South Indian---both defying social mores of their time.
I should have liked it more. But I can't tell you why I didn't because I can't figure it out.
The book is enjoyable and one can learn about colonial India, America, and England---especially by looking up some words, people, events, etc---and I would still recommend it. But I wasn't totally drawn in and riveted like some other books have done for me."
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