SEA OF POPPIES

'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)

Sea of Poppies is a stunningly vibrant and intensely human work that confirms Amitav Ghosh s reputation as a master storyteller. At the heart of this epic saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean to the Mauritius Islands. As to the people on board, they are a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval in the mid-nineteenth century, fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed village-woman, from a mulatto American freedman to a free-spirited European orphan. As they sail down the Hooghly and into the sea, their old family ties are washed away, and they view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship-brothers, who will build whole new lives for themselves in the remote islands where they are being taken. It is the beginning of an unlikely dynasty.