In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian
Ocean and the Ibis, a ship carrying a consignment of
convicts and indentured laborers from Calcutta to
Mauritius, is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas
settle, five men have disappeared - two lascars, two
convicts and one of the passengers. Did the same storm
upend the fortunes of those aboard the Anahita, an opium
carrier heading towards Canton? And what fate befell
those aboard the Redruth, a sturdy two-masted brig
heading East out of Cornwall? Was it the storm that
altered their course or were the destinies of these
passengers at the mercy of even more powerful forces?On
the grand scale of an historical epic, River of Smoke
follows its storm-tossed characters to the crowded
harbors of China. There, despite efforts of the emperor
to stop them, ships from Europe and India exchange their
cargoes of opium for boxes of tea, silk, porcelain and
silver. Among them are Bahram Modi, a wealthy Parsi
opium merchant out of Bombay, his estranged half-Chinese
son Ah Fatt, the orphaned Paulette and a motley
collection of others whose pursuit of romance, riches
and a legendary rare flower have thrown together.All
struggle to cope with their losses - and for some,
unimaginable freedoms - in the alleys and crowded
waterways of 19th century Canton. As transporting and
mesmerizing as an opiate induced dream, River of Smoke
will soon be heralded as a masterpiece of twenty-first
century literature. |
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