Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

India

User avatar
Divia
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4435
Joined: August 2008
Location: Always Cloudy, Central New York

India

Post by Divia » Thu August 28th, 2008, 3:55 am

  • The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye
  • Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald
  • Shadows of the Moon by MM Kaye
  • The Temple Dancer by John Speed
  • The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan
  • The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan
  • East of the Sun by Julia Gregson
  • Tiger Claws by John Speed
  • YA: Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth
  • YA: Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
Last edited by Divia on Thu August 28th, 2008, 3:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
http://yabookmarks.blogspot.com/

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Thu August 28th, 2008, 4:03 am

John Masters Indian trilogy
1. The Deceivers
2. Nightrunners of Bengal
3. The Lotus and the Wind

"The Siege of Krishnapur" by J.G.Farrell

Peggy Kingman
"Not Yet Drown'd"

and does anyone else remember a wildly OTT historical romantic saga by Katharine Gordon called the Peacockseries?

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Thu August 28th, 2008, 4:36 am

Just thought of two more by Kunal Basu
"The Miniaturist" and "The Opium Clerk"

Such a shame to have lost all that wonderful information on the old HFF- hope some of it can be retrieved, but I'm very impressed by how quickly the moderators have got a new version up and running.

Carla
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 965
Joined: August 2008
Contact:

Post by Carla » Thu August 28th, 2008, 3:39 pm

On the old thread I recommended Paul Scott's Raj Quartet (Jewel in the Crown, Day of the Scorpion, Towers of Silence, Division of the Spoils), Kim by Rudyard Kipling, and any of Rudyard Kipling's Indian short stories. Including the Jungle Book and the Just So stories.

There's also Beneath a Marble Sky, by John Shors, which is about the building of the Taj Mahal. I haven't read it yet, so don't know what it's like.
PATHS OF EXILE - love, war, honour and betrayal in Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
Editor's Choice, Historical Novels Review, August 2009
Now available as e-book on Amazon Kindleand in Kindle, Epub (Nook, Sony Reader), Palm and other formats on Smashwords
Website: http://www.carlanayland.org
Blog: http://carlanayland.blogspot.com

User avatar
Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Thu August 28th, 2008, 3:53 pm

I was very very disappointed in Beneath a Marble Sky and did not finish it. It's still on my charity pile if anyone is willing to swap.

My favs,

The Far Pavilions
Shadow of the Moon
Zemindar
Olivia and Jai
Veil of Illusion (sequen to O&J)
Shalimar

I do intend to read the Raj Quartet one day, along with Thalassa Ali's trilogy (starts with A Singular Hostage) and The Seige of Krishnapur.

User avatar
Julianne Douglas
Avid Reader
Posts: 429
Joined: August 2008
Location: Northern California

Post by Julianne Douglas » Thu August 28th, 2008, 8:18 pm

E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, although I'm not sure if this counts as HF, since the time period might be contemporary to the writing.
Julianne Douglas

Writing the Renaissance

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Thu August 28th, 2008, 8:27 pm

It's an interesting point, isn't it? Strictly speaking Kipling was writing about contemporary events as well, and yet books actually written during a historical period give a perspective on how people thought and acted that authors writing at a distance of time and with a different sensibility would find it hard to capture.

User avatar
Volgadon
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 654
Joined: September 2008
Location: Israel
Contact:

Post by Volgadon » Fri September 12th, 2008, 3:22 pm

[QUOTE=annis;691]John Masters Indian trilogy
1. The Deceivers
2. Nightrunners of Bengal
3. The Lotus and the Wind
QUOTE]

A series, actually. Coromandel is set in the 17th century, Far, Far the Mountain Peak from 1900 until the 20s, though much of it takes place outside of India. Bhowani Junction deals with the days leading up to Partition and Independence, from the POV of the Anglo-Indian community (Indians with European ancestry). To the Coral Strand is a direct sequel, about Rodney Savage trying to adjust to the new India.

Then there are several other books set in India, such as the Ravi Lancers, Indian troops being sent to the Western Front in WWI, and the Venus of Konpara, which I haven't read.

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri September 12th, 2008, 6:27 pm

I'd forgotten that the later ones were a continuation of the series. "Bhowani Junction" is an old favorite, and I enjoyed the movie as well.

The first volume of John Masters' autobiography is an excellent read. "Bugles and a Tiger", the account of his early life and career in the Indian Army pre-WWII.

User avatar
pat
Avid Reader
Posts: 472
Joined: August 2008
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

Post by pat » Tue December 9th, 2008, 6:44 am

[quote=""Julianne Douglas""]E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, although I'm not sure if this counts as HF, since the time period might be contemporary to the writing.[/quote]

Just picked this up from the library. Looking forward to it!
A good book and a good coffee, what more can anyone want? xx

Post Reply

Return to “India”