Amitav Ghosh’s astonishing adventure spans the poppy fields of the Ganges, the backstreets of China and the high seas of the Indian Ocean.
At the heart of this epic saga, set just before the Opium Wars, is an old slaving-ship, The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean, its crew a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts: from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager, from an evangelical English opium trader to a mixed-race American freedman. They all simply view themselves as jahaj-bhais - ship brothers - in this masterpiece from one of the world’s finest novelists.
About the Author
Amitav Ghosh's novel Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.