Product Description

Rajkumar is only another boy, helping on a market stall in the dusty square outside the royal palace, when the British force the Burmese King, Queen and all the Court into exile! He is rescued by the far-seeing Chinese merchant, and with him builds up a logging business in upper Burma. But haunted by his vision of the Royal Family, he journeys to the obscure town in India where they have been exiled. The picture of the tension between the Burmese, the Indian and the British, is excellent. Among the great range of characters are one of the court ladies, Miss Dolly, whom he marries: and the redoubtable Jonakin, part of the British-educated Indian colony, who with her husband has been put in charge of the Burmese exiled court. The story follows the fortunes - rubber estates in Malaya, businesses in Singapore, estates in Burma - which Rajkumar, with his Chinese, British and Burmese relations, friends and associates, builds up - from 1870 through the Second World War to the scattering of the extended family to New York and Thailand, London and Hong Kong in the post-war years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2990 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Customer Reviews

Exciting and unusual escape reading.
Full of the colors, scents, and sounds of exotic Burma in the 1860's, this novel comes to life within the Glass Palace of the royal family and in the streets of Mandalay in the final days before the British arrive to colonize. Giving life to the Burmese point of view, Rajkumar and Dolly, orphaned children working as servants when the novel begins, become the founders of a family whose members, in succeeding generations, reflect the economic and the political realities in Burma, Malaya, and India over the 150 years from the British raj to the present day.

Working as suppliers of teak, petroleum, and rubber, members of this family and of two other families with whom they have close ties, also work as soldiers supporting Britain during World Wars I and II, with the independence movement in Burma and India, and eventually as anti-communist intellectuals in the present state of Myanmar. By having these families participate in the important historical events which occurred in this part of the world, Ghosh does a remarkable job of personalizing these events and making them memorable for readers. The action, especially during the World War II invasion of Malaya by the Japanese, is vivid and exciting, as people try to flee the shooting in Malaya but find roads closed to Burma and Siam. While this is not War and Peace, The Glass Palace is a fascinating look into the history and cultures of a region which has had little exposure in western novels. Mary Whipple

A lovely, crisp tale of the East
This story is a beautiful introduction to a century of life in India, Burma and Malaya. The characters are both symbolic and endearing each representing an archetype without loosing human depth. The backdrop of daily local customs adds colour and subtlety to the tale. Most of all, it is written in a simple and crisp English which will shame most modern Western authors.

Not sure about this one...
I have given this book 3 stars, not as a comment on how well it is written, but on my own personal enjoyment of it. It concerns 3 generations of a family who have links to the last king of Burma, and takes place in Burma and India. It is undoubtedly a well researched and well written book. There just didn't seem to be enough feeling in it, I didn't sympathise with any of the characters and found I didn't really care about them. Perhaps it was just the subject matter......