The Far Pavilions

The Far Pavilions is one of the most beautiful, culturally aware, historically accurate, and vivid books I’ve ever read, and I re-read it every few years.

I’ve loaned this book and not gotten it back so many times that I’m sure it’s still in print because of the number of copies I’ve had to buy to replace it. Based on the history of British direct rule in India, it tells the story of a young British boy raised as Indian by the nanny who saves his life during the Sepoy uprisings.

He struggles with having a foot in two worlds… show more.

Identity and honour are at the heart of this epic historical adventure. Being half Indian and half British myself, I identified with the main character, Ash. I love how he doesn’t even know of his British heritage until later in life, and how his upbringing among Indians causes him grief when he tries to fit in with “his own kind,” both in England, and on his return to India. I enjoyed Ash’s awkwardness, rashness, and creativity serving as a go-between for not just two, but many peoples. The diplomatic dilemmas are gripping, the obstacles to a forbidden love with a… show more.

This classic novel of colonial-era India is an absolute epic, and it immerses you in that world, in all its beauty, injustice, majesty, and history, focusing on a heartrending love story between a doomed Indian princess and a rebellious British soldier who has been raised by a Hindu woman, and the forbidden love they share in the shadow of the 1879 Uprising. With a sympathetic view of the Indian population and a clear-eyed look at colonialism, this book is as much as a love letter to India (the author grew up there) as it is a rollicking adventure story and… show more.

This is romantic fiction on an epic scale and took my breath away. It starts at the time of the Indian Mutiny and powers through to the Second Afghan War; a whirlwind of daring escapes, palace intrigues, brutal battles, and star-crossed lovers (British boy Ashok raised as Hindu and Princess Juli). The descriptions of India, from the desert fortresses to the northern mountains, are mesmerising – it’s like watching a very long technicolour film with a vast cast! M.M. Kaye set the bar very high for historical fiction set in India. She was raised in Simla during the British Raj… show more.