Review
This book is highly evocative... De Courcy takes the reader through an enchanted world (THE GUARDIAN 2012-07-14)
The Fishing Fleet is an entertaining, richly detailed account of a world that vanished overnight in 1947 with independence (Daisy Goodwin THE SUNDAY TIMES 2012-07-15)
The Fishing Fleet is a fascinating and evocatively told history, which summons both the exoticism of India under British rule and the lives and characters of the women who risked all for a husband (FINANCIAL TIMES 2012-07-21)
lively and well-researched (THE SPECTATOR)
Anne de Courcy combines the perseverance of a social historian with the panache of a novelist in her tales from the Raj... she vividly and cleverly evokes the ironclad social culture of rank and race, the oppression of expatriate life once a husband was bagged and boredom set in (Iain Finlayson THE TIMES)
A seasoned social historian, Anne de Courcy brilliantly evokes the era, often by allowing her heroines to do the talking. We hear vivid contemporary descriptions of everything from tiger hunts and tea dances to the agonies of prickly heat... the women who married into the Raj were true adventurers. de Courcy's book restores their proper reputation: as brave, sometimes batty, irredeemably British heroines (DAILY MAIL)
De Courcy tells their story with perspicacity and aplomb (THE FIELD)
Through heat, dust, lust and wedlock, de Courcy's memsahibs step a lively dance (SAGA MAGAZINE)
Anne de Courcy's sparkling book is an unalloyed delight (THE LADY)
This is a fascinating account of the rules, roles and relations of the British Raj (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH)
This entertaining book...paints a broad picture of life in the Raj...memorable events are retold with zest and humour...Their stories are a perfect read for a cruise ship sailing eastwards or a deckchair in the sun (COUNTRY LIFE)
brilliantly researched, skilfully constructed and full of delights (THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)
An entertaining and insightful romp...De Courcy has a remarkable talent for analysing subtle questions about Victorian and Edwardian femininity, politics, the empire, love and the nature of marriage. She is convincing, entrancing even. Quite simply she is a wonderful storyteller (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE)
de Courcy's delightful tale...draws on unpublished memoirs, leters and diaries to bring to life a hitherto under-explored aspect of life in the Raj (GEOGRAPHICAL)
a fascinating corner of British social history...a jolly good read (SPEAR'S)
illuminating volume (CATHOLIC HERALD)
Anne de Courcy has used many unique sources, such as letters, diaries and memoirs to explore the 'Fishing Fleet' phenomenon, telling individual stories with insight and eloquence. Crammed with colourful detail of life in British India, it is a revelation - and a rollicking good read (FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE)
From the late 19th century, when the Raj was at its height, many of Britain's best and brightest young men went out to India to work as administrators, and businessmen - and many young women followed in their wake. Anne de Courcy tells of the lively social life and the contrasting, remote worlds where the resulting marriagese often ended up (YOUR FAMILY TREE)
A vivid, well-written book, and a delightful read (WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? magazine)
fascinating and very readable (TLS)
a rich and exhilarating study of an ancient sport known as 'getting your man to the altar' (Antonia Fraser MAIL ON SUNDAY)
the richly evocative story of the women who sailed out to the Indian Raj in search of husbands. A fascinating era and a picture of a closed world and society long gone but which the author recaptures vividly (Susan Hill THE SPECTATOR)
Anne de Courcy's entertaining book... may prove perhaps to be the last of a kind, a nostalgic, non-judgmental look bacK (HISTORY TODAY)
If you enjoy social history then The Fishing Fleet is right up your street. Drawing on many individual stories, Anne de Courcy gives a detailed vivid account of life in India when eligible young ladies sailed out in pursuit of eligible young men who outnumbered the females by four to one! Marriage did not always turn out as expected, however! (EVERGREEN)
The Fishing Fleet is an entertaining, richly detailed account of a world that vanished overnight in 1947 with independence (Daisy Goodwin THE SUNDAY TIMES 2012-07-15)
The Fishing Fleet is a fascinating and evocatively told history, which summons both the exoticism of India under British rule and the lives and characters of the women who risked all for a husband (FINANCIAL TIMES 2012-07-21)
lively and well-researched (THE SPECTATOR)
Anne de Courcy combines the perseverance of a social historian with the panache of a novelist in her tales from the Raj... she vividly and cleverly evokes the ironclad social culture of rank and race, the oppression of expatriate life once a husband was bagged and boredom set in (Iain Finlayson THE TIMES)
A seasoned social historian, Anne de Courcy brilliantly evokes the era, often by allowing her heroines to do the talking. We hear vivid contemporary descriptions of everything from tiger hunts and tea dances to the agonies of prickly heat... the women who married into the Raj were true adventurers. de Courcy's book restores their proper reputation: as brave, sometimes batty, irredeemably British heroines (DAILY MAIL)
De Courcy tells their story with perspicacity and aplomb (THE FIELD)
Through heat, dust, lust and wedlock, de Courcy's memsahibs step a lively dance (SAGA MAGAZINE)
Anne de Courcy's sparkling book is an unalloyed delight (THE LADY)
This is a fascinating account of the rules, roles and relations of the British Raj (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH)
This entertaining book...paints a broad picture of life in the Raj...memorable events are retold with zest and humour...Their stories are a perfect read for a cruise ship sailing eastwards or a deckchair in the sun (COUNTRY LIFE)
brilliantly researched, skilfully constructed and full of delights (THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)
An entertaining and insightful romp...De Courcy has a remarkable talent for analysing subtle questions about Victorian and Edwardian femininity, politics, the empire, love and the nature of marriage. She is convincing, entrancing even. Quite simply she is a wonderful storyteller (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE)
de Courcy's delightful tale...draws on unpublished memoirs, leters and diaries to bring to life a hitherto under-explored aspect of life in the Raj (GEOGRAPHICAL)
a fascinating corner of British social history...a jolly good read (SPEAR'S)
illuminating volume (CATHOLIC HERALD)
Anne de Courcy has used many unique sources, such as letters, diaries and memoirs to explore the 'Fishing Fleet' phenomenon, telling individual stories with insight and eloquence. Crammed with colourful detail of life in British India, it is a revelation - and a rollicking good read (FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE)
From the late 19th century, when the Raj was at its height, many of Britain's best and brightest young men went out to India to work as administrators, and businessmen - and many young women followed in their wake. Anne de Courcy tells of the lively social life and the contrasting, remote worlds where the resulting marriagese often ended up (YOUR FAMILY TREE)
A vivid, well-written book, and a delightful read (WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? magazine)
fascinating and very readable (TLS)
a rich and exhilarating study of an ancient sport known as 'getting your man to the altar' (Antonia Fraser MAIL ON SUNDAY)
the richly evocative story of the women who sailed out to the Indian Raj in search of husbands. A fascinating era and a picture of a closed world and society long gone but which the author recaptures vividly (Susan Hill THE SPECTATOR)
Anne de Courcy's entertaining book... may prove perhaps to be the last of a kind, a nostalgic, non-judgmental look bacK (HISTORY TODAY)
If you enjoy social history then The Fishing Fleet is right up your street. Drawing on many individual stories, Anne de Courcy gives a detailed vivid account of life in India when eligible young ladies sailed out in pursuit of eligible young men who outnumbered the females by four to one! Marriage did not always turn out as expected, however! (EVERGREEN)
Book Description
The untold stories of the young women who went out to India in search of marriage.
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