The Smoke River

“Smoke River” by Amitav Ghosh is the second book of an epoch-making trilogy about maritime adventures in colonial India. On the way from Calcutta to Mauritius, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the schooner “Ibis” was caught in a terrible storm. Aboard, besides the cargo—prisoners and hired workers—are the heroes beloved by readers from the first part of the trilogy. Among them are a wealthy opium trader from Bombay; a young French orphan girl; a former Indian raja turned scribe in a trading mission; and others—a motley company of bright, unforgettable people full of contradictions, brought together in pursuit of romance and wealth. Fate and the storm scatter some of the heroes to Canton in China, where, despite all the efforts of the Chinese emperor, the opium trade boils. Amitav Ghosh weaves personal dramatic stories into a single tapestry—captivating and carrying imagination away into a colorful world full of danger and adventures.