After she married, there had been good times and bad times. Sometimes there had been good harvests, sometimes the monsoon ruined everything. Who can explain the sea? Sometimes the waters teemed with fish. You throw in your net and pull it up, and it shone like a gigantic pulsating silver jewel, but there were times when the fish simply disappeared. Who can explain people’s tastes? Sometimes people wanted to eat fish and there were times when it seemed nobody cared for even the best hilsa.
Image credit: CC-0 iWorksphotography
Read about Shanti »
Book 1
Chapter 10
(Sundarbans, Eastern India, 1830)
As a child, Shanti had instinctively sensed Raju's apprehension whenever he came to their house. Her Pitaji treated the boy with contempt, as if he had just ...
Chapter 12
(Sundarbans, Eastern India, 1835)
Unexpectedly, as they were watching the river that morning, they saw a speck on the water in the distance, and she guessed that it was Jayant's boat, and ind...
Chapter 14
(Calcutta, India, 1835)
The road from Sonarkhali across the Pargannas to Calcutta could be fraught with all sorts of danger, none of the oft-repeated assurances to the contrary that...
Chapter 16: The Startled Fawn
(Calcutta, India, 1840s)
Shanti dozed off for she did not know how long, but when she woke up, Jayant had not come back. That Jayant is so unreliable, she thought.
Book 2
Book 2 Chapter 4: Leaving Calcutta
(Calcutta, India, Late 1840s)
When Jayant reappeared alone some time later, Shanti was filled with an inexplicable hatred for the young man, as if it was all his fault that he had not fou...
Book 2 Chapter 7: Mont Calme
(Mauritius, 1840s)
'I am not greedy,' lied Victor. It was not that he was not greedy, but he understood that if he had the governor as an ally, the sky was the limit.
Book 2 Chapter 12: Young Raju's Ebony Fish
(Mauritius, Late 1840s)
Raju, without seemingly listening to the endless stories of hardship and hard work, knew how proud the two grandparents were of their prosperity. Jayant neve...