Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies reviewed by UMA MAHADEVAN-DASGUPTA

Sea of Poppies is the first of a planned trilogy, and this is a good thing because the novel ends rather dramatically. Despite the sprawling canvas, the pace never slackens for a moment in this most well-crafted of Ghosh’s novels since The Shadow Lines and The Calcutta Chromosome. Even more than a fine plot and rich historical detail, it is the language that carries the novel through more than 500 pages – a spirited, playful, passionate and fiercely, gloriously living language that throbs and thrives with every encounter between people and cultures, a language that turns and moves as naturally as the waters upon which the travellers sail.

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 is the first of a planned trilogy, and this is a good thing because the novel ends rather dramatically. Despite the sprawling canvas, the pace never slackens for a moment in this most well-crafted of Ghosh’s novels since The Shadow Lines and The Calcutta Chromosome. Even more than a fine plot and rich historical detail, it is the language that carries the novel through more than 500 pages – a spirited, playful, passionate and fiercely, gloriously living language that throbs and thrives with every encounter between people and cultures, a language that turns and moves as naturally as the waters upon which the travellers sail.  more