by Amitav Ghosh
First published 2002
British soldiers storm the Glass Palace in 1885, driving Burma's royal family into exile. Rajkumar, a destitute boy caught in the chaos, watches the invasion transform his world. In the palace's final moments, he meets Dolly, a young woman serving the Burmese Queen. Their brief encounter ignites a love that will drive him across decades. Rajkumar channels the upheaval around him into opportunity. He ventures into Burma's teak forests and builds a timber empire from nothing. But wealth cannot erase his memory of Dolly or fill the void her absence creates. Years pass before he gains the means to search for her, following her trail from Burma's fallen capital to the far reaches of the British Empire. Their reunion sets in motion a story that spans generations and borders. Rajkumar and Dolly's descendants navigate the forces reshaping Southeast Asia, from colonial exploitation to independence movements. Love and ambition collide as families scatter across Burma, India, and Malaya, each generation grappling with the legacy of empire and the price of survival.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: British Empire, Burma, India, Malaya
Period: 1885, 20th-century
486 pages · Paperback · Random House Trade Paperbacks
Content warnings: colonialism