Product Description

At the heart of this epic saga, set just before the Opium Wars, is an old slaving-ship, The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean, its crew a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts.

In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager, from an evangelical English opium trader to a mulatto American freedman. As their old family ties are washed away they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship-brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born, which will span continents, races and generations.    

The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the exotic backstreets of China. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, which makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive – a masterpiece from one of the world’s finest novelists.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1326 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
'Sea of Poppies Boasts a varied collection of characters to love and hate, and provides wonderfully detailed descriptions of opium production ... utterly involving and piles on tension until the very last page' -- Peter Parker, Sunday Times 'A glorious babel of a novel ... marvellously inventive ... utterly involving ... The next volume cannot come too soon' -- Sunday Times 'An utterly involving book' -- Sunday Times 'This is a panoramic adventure story, with a Dickensian energy and scope' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Ghosh's narrative is enriched with a wealth of historical detail ... as well as intricate characterisation that makes interaction among the diverse group truly absorbing' -- The Times 'There can be fewer more exciting settings for a novel than a sea-tossed sailing ship ... Ghosh piles detail upon detail in a rumbustical adventure' -- The Times 'Ripping post-colonial yarn ... Ghosh spins a fine story with a quite irresistible flow, breathing exuberant life ... an absorbing vision' -- Guardian 'A remarkably rich saga' -- Observer 'Each scene is boldly drawn, but it is the sheer energy and verve of Amitav Ghosh's storytelling that binds this ambitious medley' -- Daily Mail 'This is a corker' -- Spectator 'Ghosh turns the ship into something robustly, bawdily and indelibly real ... a plot of Dickensian intricacy' -- New York Times 'A master of fiction' -- Economist 'A richly drawn cast of characters ... gilded with expertly-mined historical detail' -- Sunday Business Post 'The fantastic Anglo-Asian language they speak is infectious, and the sombre yet uncertain conclusion leaves one eager for the second novel in the trilogy' -- Daily Telegraph 'A captivating cast ... Ghosh's saga is enriched with a blizzard of Laskari- and Hindi-derived words that add irrepressible energy to the narrative' -- Metro 'Beautifully written, this totally absorbing novel will leave you eagerly awaiting a second instalment' -- She Magazine

Review

‘Sea of Poppies Boasts a varied collection of characters to love and hate, and provides wonderfully detailed descriptions of opium production ... utterly involving and piles on tension until the very last page’

(Peter Parker, Sunday Times )

‘Ripping post-colonial yarn ... Ghosh spins a fine story with a quite irresistible flow, breathing exuberant life ... an absorbing vision’

(Guardian )

‘Ghosh’s narrative is enriched with a wealth of historical detail ... as well as intricate characterisation that makes interaction among the diverse group truly absorbing’

(The Times )

‘There can be fewer more exciting settings for a novel than a sea-tossed sailing ship ... Ghosh piles detail upon detail in a rumbustical adventure’

(The Times )

‘The fantastic Anglo-Asian language they speak is infectious, and the sombre yet uncertain conclusion leaves one eager for the second novel in the trilogy’

(Daily Telegraph )

‘An utterly involving book’ (Sunday Times )

‘This is a panoramic adventure story, with a Dickensian energy and scope’

(Sunday Telegraph )

‘A richly drawn cast of characters ... gilded with expertly-mined historical detail’

(Sunday Business Post )

‘A captivating cast ... Ghosh’s saga is enriched with a blizzard of Laskari- and Hindi-derived words that add irrepressible energy to the narrative’

(Metro )

‘Beautifully written, this totally absorbing novel will leave you eagerly awaiting a second  instalment’

(She Magazine )

Praise for The Glass Palace:

(. )

‘Breathtaking ... Ghosh is a deeply serious writer, sure of his human and historical insights ... I cannot think of another contemporary writer with whom it would be so thrilling to go so far, so fast’

(The Times )

‘A splendid, exotic, panoramic saga, with fascinating detail about the period and the countries involved. Eminently readable, indeed a real page-turner’ (Publishing News )

‘A born storyteller ... never for a moment is the reader not propelled irresistibly forward to discover what happens next’

(Literary Review )

Praise for The Hungry Tide:

(. )

‘A marvellous novel ... an ambitious, absorbing, vivid, deeply involving story ... the narrative is full of excitement. Here is a thoughtful examination of what it means to be fully human’

(Sunday Times )

‘An exceptionally intricate and rich novel’

(Financial Times )

‘Ghosh probes the hearts of his characters and examines the nature of their identity ... the climax is a tremendous scene, but it is the haunting quality of this novel that stays in the memory’

(Sunday Telegraph )

Observer
'A remarkably rich saga'

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Customer Reviews

Energetic, ambitious and immensely moving......
Another tremendous piece of storytelling from Ghosh. In Sea of Poppies he brings together a disparate group of characters who all find themselves aboard the Ibis as she sails from the Hoogly River in Calcutta to Mauritius in the 1830s. The Ibis is a "blackbirder" - a ship previously used as part of the slave trade and is now used to transport opium and other supplies to China. But with the Opium Wars looming it is decided to use the ship to take indentured labourers to Mauritius.
The opium trade is brilliantly researched and shows us the devastating effect it has on the peasants forced to grow poppies rather than food. Class and caste issues loom large throughout in a society where everyone knows where they stand in the pecking order. Only on the Ibis does this hierarchy break down as the passengers realise that they are (literally) all in the same boat.
The narrative moves swiftly and rarely slackens. The story culminates in a real cliffhanger and leaves the reader wanting to know what will happen next. (Sea of Poppies is the first part of a trilogy). The characterisations are strong and vivid although I do feel that some of the things that happen are somewhat far-fetched!
Much of the dialogue is bold and bawdy and uses lots of Anglo-Indian and Hindustani terms. This added to the rich brew of this novel although I can understand that others may find it irritating.
An energetic, ambitious and immensely moving book.

Addictive, as in the title
I was attracted to buy this book through prior knowledge of the author, an interest in India and its history, and a professional interest in the subject of the title. Recognising that this was volume 1 of a trilogy, I realised there would be a lot of scene setting with characters establishing themselves. I thought this might be heavy going but I was wrong. I enjoyed the stories and the backgrounds that lead to them all being on the ship, the Ibis on their way to Mauritius. Throughout this wafted the sheer unpleasantness of life, the smells, the violence, the prejudice and the struggles that so many had had to overcome. Inevitably the main characters stand out as survivors with hidden depths that emerge over time. Perhaps a bit 2 dimensional as this stage.

Amitav Ghosh has done a huge amount of research into the background of life 200 years ago in India and this is reflected in the use of the vernacular languages of the time - seafaring talk, colonial English, a multitude of Indian words etc. On the one hand this was difficult to manage at first and I kept looking for a glossary (it would need to have been about 20 pages!). However, as I got used to it I found myself able to understand a lot more. My lack of understanding often matched the characters lack of comprehension of what was being said to them. Overall this mixture of language added to the flavour of the book but could be off-putting some.

It was a fast, engrossing read for me, with an unexpected cliff-hanger at the end and I am looking forward to the next instalment. I recommend it.

Stage setter
There are many very good reviews on this book already. My take on it? I liked it enough to be on the look out for part 2 in the trilogy, but that is also its main setback. On the whole, this first book is too much of a 'stage setter'. It doesn't feel very much as a finished work, but as a beautifully crafted door to an as yet unfinished building.