Sea of Poppies
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Preparing to fight China's nineteenth-century Opium Wars, a motley assortment of sailors and passengers establish family-like ties that eventually span continents, races, and generations.
McMillan Palgrave
A San Francisco Chronicle
Preparing to fight China's nineteenth-century Opium Wars, a motley assortment of sailors and passengers establish family-like ties that eventually span continents, races, and generations.
McMillan Palgrave
A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2008
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2008
A Washington Post Best Book of 2008
An Economist Best Book of 2008
A New York Best Book of 2008
A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of 2008
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize
At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean; its purpose, to fight China’s vicious nineteenth-century Opium Wars. As for the crew, they are a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts.
In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt raja to a widowed tribeswoman, from a mulatto American freedman to a freespirited French orphan. 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, the exotic backstreets of Canton. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, that makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive—a masterpiece from one of the world’s finest novelists.
Baker
& Taylor
Preparing to fight China's nineteenth-century Opium Wars, a motley assortment of sailors and passengers, including a bankrupt rajah, a widowed tribeswoman, and a free-spirited French orphan, comes to experience family-like ties that eventually span continents, races, and generations.
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Add a CommentTook me a while to get into the rhythm of this book but I was soon hooked! An excellent saga - looking forward to reading the next one in the trilogy.
I had heard this author was very good, so I recommended this book for my book club to mixed reviews. I really enjoyed the book--it's historical ficton about the opium trade. The first half of the book sets up and introduces the characters and the second involves the voyage on the ship, the Ibis. The ending leaves you hanging, however, this is the first in a trilogy of titles. Well worth a read if you enjoy historical fiction.
Listened to the audio version. Wonderful narrator who captured the many voices perfectly. Great story. Can't wait for the next one.
Lovely prose and some wonderful characters. Dense and sometimes confusing but worth the read
A Dickensian novel vividly describing the impact of the British opium trade on everyday Indians. The unforgettable main character is a village woman caught in world events: her ingenuity and bravery, and that of the other misfits she gathers around her, give her the means to escape to a new world. And we're looking forward to the next book, to find out what happens when they get there.
I agree with ds 123 - great book! I do know that it is the first in a trilogy, so I am looking forward to the next installment.
A great read. I was left wondering what happens next. There could be another book just as thick to finish the story. I learned a lot about the period.