River of Smoke

Publisher Marketing: The Ibis, loaded to its gunwales with a cargo of indentured servants, is in the grip of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal; among the dozens flailing for survival are Neel, the pampered raja who has been convicted of embezzlement; Paulette, the French orphan masquerading as a deck-hand; and Deeti, the widowed poppy grower fleeing her homeland with her lover, Kalua. The storm also threatens the clipper ship Anahita, groaning with the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India for Canton. And the Redruth, a nursery ship, carries Frederick Fitcher Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down the priceless treasures of China that are hidden in plain sight: its plants that have the power to heal, or beautify, or intoxicate. All will converge in Canton s Fanqui-town, or Foreign Enclave: a tumultuous world unto itself where civilizations clash and sometimes fuse. It is a powder keg awaiting a spark to ignite the Opium Wars. Spectacular coincidences, startling reversals of fortune, and tender love stories abound. But this is much more than an irresistible page-turner. The blind quest for money, the primacy of the drug trade, the concealment of base impulses behind the rhetoric of freedom: in River of Smoke the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries converge, and the result is a consuming historical novel with powerful contemporary resonance. Critics praised Sea of Poppies for its vibrant storytelling, antic humor, and rich nar-rative scope; now Amitav Ghosh continues the epic that has charmed and compelled readers all over the globe. PRAISE FOR River of Smoke On one level, [River of Smoke] is a remarkable feat of research, bringing alive the hybrid customs of food and dress and the competing philosophies of the period with intimate precision; on another it is a subversive act of empathy, viewing a whole panorama of world history from the wrong end of the telescope. The real trick, though, is that it is also fabulously entertaining. Tim Adams, The Observer (London) Eloquent . . . Fascinating . . . [River of Smoke s] strength lies in how thoroughly Ghosh fills out his research with his novelistic fantasy, seduced by each new situation that presents itself and each new character, so that at their best the scenes read with a sensual freshness as if they were happening now. Tessa Hadley, The Guardian [This] vast book has a Dickensian sweep of characters, high- and low-life intermingling . . . Ghosh conjures up a thrilling sense of place. The Economist" Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 10/28/2012 pg. 24 (EAN 9781250013750, Paperback) Library Journal 04/01/2013 pg. 46 (EAN 9781250013750, Paperback) - *Starred Review Library Journal 05/15/2011 pg. 61 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/15/2011 pg. 61 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 08/29/2011 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2011 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Booklist 10/15/2011 pg. 23 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) - *Starred Review New York Times Book Review 10/16/2011 pg. 30 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 10/09/2011 pg. 19 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Shelf Awareness 10/11/2011 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) New Yorker (The) 01/09/2012 pg. 75 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2012 pg. 32 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 326 (EAN 9780374174231, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Ghosh, Amitav Amitav Ghosh is the internationally bestselling author of many works of fiction and non-fiction, including the novel The Glass Palace, and the recipient of numerous prizes and awards. He divides his time between Kolkata and Goa, India, and Brooklyn, New York.