- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: Bantam Books (1 Sep 1980)
- ISBN-10: 0553251562
- ISBN-13: 978-0553251562
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.6 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,541,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a superlative work of beautifully written, well-researched historical fiction by the author of the best selling, sweeping epic, "The Far Pavilions". The author was born in India, where she lived most of her life. Her love of that country is evident in her loving, descriptive passages of the land of her birth. Her assessment of Anglo-Indian relations during the time of the British Raj is infused in the characters of her spellbinding novel. With exotic, mid-eighteenth century India as a backdrop for most of this engrossing story, the reader is swept away by its beautifully descriptive narrative. It is in India that the fate of a beautiful, young, Anglo-Spaniard heiress with the improbable name of Winter Ballasteros and that of Captain Alex Randall, a commissioned officer with the East India Company, are irrevocably intertwined.
Born in India and orphaned at an early age, Winter is brought up in England but is always longing for the land of her birth. The opportunity to return home to India presents itself when she is betrothed at a tender age to the debauched Conway Barton, the grasping Commissioner of Lunjore, who is many years her senior. Captain Randall, who is sent by the Commissioner to escort his betrothed to India, is loathe to do so, knowing the Commissioner to be no fit husband for a seventeen year old girl, Moreover, Captain Randall is keenly sensitive to the potentially dangerous feelings of unrest that seem to be sweeping India, as its native population begins to chafe under the insensitive rule of its colonial masters.
Once in India and against a backdrop of native unrest, Winter and Captain Randall slowly begin to develop a relationship. When the Sepoy Rebellion of 1957 occurs, Winter and Captain Randall are thrown together. They discover that they must struggle to survive the madness and bloodlust that is all around them, as they witness atrocities beyond comprehension. The author gives a vivid re-creation of the Siege of Delhi, as well as a plaintive telling of the massacre of women and children at Cawnpore, a horrific bloodbath from which even the natives themselves shrank. It is against this tumultuous, historical backdrop that the personal drama of Winter and Captain Randall is juxtaposed.
With a wonderful cast of Indian and Anglo characters, the author gives the reader a sense of the vastness of India with its many different religions and castes. She successfully depicts the colonialist attitudes that would serve to unite Indians whose paths might not ordinarily cross and galvanize them to take violent action in an attempt to break the oppressive, colonial yoke. The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 would be a lesson that England would long remember.
This is a riveting novel that those who love well-written historical fiction will enjoy, as will those who simply love a well told tale. Bravo!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is a must-read for anyone who likes a deeply engaging story against a fascinating historical backdrop- British India and the days of the Indian Mutiny in this case. M.M.Kaye is undoubtedly a gifted author who has a way of creating beautiful imagery and invoking the sounds, smells and sights that transport the reader into the world of her characters. Everytime i have read this book, i have longed with almost a childish longing to go back in time to see the India of that day and meet Winter and Alex, the two main characters of the novel despite the fact that they actually go through a gruesome experience of war and bloodshed.
This novel has been a refuge many a times when I have wanted to escape and lose myself in another world. M.M Kaye does not leave any charcter or situation half-baked and even though sometimes some of the minor characters such as English Mama's come across as stereotyped, they are very very real and one cannot help but form a strong bond with them, suffer, laugh, cry and rejoice with them.
I love this book!
This novel has been a refuge many a times when I have wanted to escape and lose myself in another world. M.M Kaye does not leave any charcter or situation half-baked and even though sometimes some of the minor characters such as English Mama's come across as stereotyped, they are very very real and one cannot help but form a strong bond with them, suffer, laugh, cry and rejoice with them.
I love this book!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is an excellent story that I have read many times over the past twenty years. I first read it as a student and keep coming back to re-read it as the story has many layers that become more relevant to me as I move on through my life. It is the story of a young girl brought up in India for her early years, who moves to England where she is very unhappy. She becomes engaged to a man who will take her back to her beloved India, but this leads to many problems when she falls in love with the messanger he has sent to fetch her from England.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
good but heavy going
I enjoyed reading this book but not as much as I expected. It was very heavy going and to begin with too many characters being introduced quickly. Read more
Published 6 months ago by marnei
Gone with the Indian wind
Clearly it's a bit weird to be reviewing a book that was published in 1957, but it's a treat I've been saving up since the 1980s when I took THE FAR PAVILIONS on a holiday to... Read more
Published 20 months ago by David Gee
Dramatic adventure story set against a troubled time in India
Other reviewers have covered the story outline very well so I won't dwell on that. The love story is very gentle and you need to be interested in history/geography or politics to... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2010 by K. Culley
Star crossed lovers, the British Raj & India, what more can you want...
This was just an amazing book. Once the author set up her characters and story line things just cooked along -- be prepared for the last 200 pages, because you will not surface for... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2007 by Misfit
Love, passion and history
Another epic story by M M Kaye who writes so well and brings her characters and their feelings to life. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2006 by SP
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