The Glass Palace - Softcover

Ghosh, Amitav

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140299246 ISBN 13: 9780140299243

Publisher: Penguin Canada, 2001

Synopsis

Rajkumar is a young orphan helping out in a market stall in the dusty square outside the royal palace in Mandalay, when the British force the Burmese King, Queen and court into exile. Haunted by his vision of the Royal Family and one of their attendants, he travels to the obscure town where they have been exiled, and his family and friends become inexorably linked with theirs.

From this humble beginning, an extraordinary story of a century unfolds: in Malaya, amid the vast rubber plantations; in India, amid growing nationalistic fervor; in America, where ideals of democracy, terrorist skills and business acumen could all be learned. By the time World War II arrives, Rajkumar's influence will have spread from the great estate at Morningside and he will see his son become involved in the British collapse in Singapore, and another member of his family take part in the remarkable rebellion of the Indian troops against their British officers.

Many more fascinating stories unfold in the pages of The Glass Palace. There is the formidable Indian widow, Uma, a spearhead of the Indian nationalist movement and a final refuge for the battered remnants of the family as they flee from Burma before the Japanese advance. And there is Rajkumar's granddaughter, who survives the experience and brings readers back to Burma, completing the family saga started so long ago.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Brilliant and impassioned, The Glass Palace is a masterly novel by Amitav Ghosh, the gifted novelist Peter Matthiessen has called an exceptional writer. This superb story of love and war begins with the shattering of the kingdom of Burma and the igniting of a great and passionate love, and it goes on to tell the story of a people, a fortune, and a family and its fate.

The Glass Palace tells of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who creates an empire in the Burmese teak forest. During the British invasion of 1885, when soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, the woman whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her.

From the Back Cover:

"A distinctive voice, polished and profound."

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Canada
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0140299246
• ISBN 13: 9780140299243
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 560