Sailing on a Sea of Poppies

Categories: History , Fiction

Good historical fiction serves several functions: it transports you to a different place and time, it expands your knowledge of that place and time, and it (usually) makes you feel grateful to be living in the here and now, by comparison.  Sea of Poppies is a splendid historical novel that, in addition, takes the English language and makes it flow like water. 

This tale centers around the remarkable complexity of the Asian opium trade in the 1800's and its characters are as colorful and diverse as the city of Calcutta, where the story begins. Colonials, fortune seekers, indentured servants, and runaways all end up aboard the Ibis, a ship bound for the island of Mauritius.  Reflecting the array of languages that sail into any busy seaport, the author weaves in pidgin english, creole, and nautical slang throughout, deepening the sense of characterization.  The glossary at the end of the book is helpful, and the book's website provides maps and historical information.

Author Amitav Ghosh, a native of Calcutta, now divides his time between India and New York City.  Sea of Poppies is intended to be the first volume in the Ibis Trilogy, and is not to be missed.