Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

Sea of Poppies

Amitav Ghosh

If you set sail on the schooner Ibis you will feel a stowaway, immersed in the customs and language of 1830's India, within a background of the Opium Wars. With the crew, convicts and migrants you will endure extreme conditions and identify with the hopes and ambitions of the characters as a new life is sought overseas.

Extract
When the maistries came to remove the gratings there was a near riot: dozens of men scrambled up the ladder in a desperate effort to force their way out on deck. But the hatch was only wide enough for a single man to pass through at any time and every head that was thrust out of it presented an easy target to the maistries. Their lathis came crashing down on the girmitiyas’ skulls and shoulders, knocking them back inside one after another. Within minutes both the gratings and the hatch were slammed shut again.



Parallels
  • Remember Me by Lesley Pearse
  • East of the Sun by Julia Gregson
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Violence
Explicit sexual content