The Glass Palace: The International Bestseller from the Man Booker Prize shortlisted author

The International Bestseller from the Man Booker Prize shortlisted author 'An absorbing story of a world in transition’ JM Coetzee 'A Doctor Zhivago for the Far East' The Independent Rajkumar is only another boy, helping on a market stall in the dusty square outside the royal palace, when the British force the Burmese King, Queen and all the Court into exile. He is rescued by the far-seeing Chinese merchant, and with him builds up a logging business in upper Burma. But haunted by his vision of the Royal Family, he journeys to the obscure town in India where they have been exiled. The story follows the fortunes – rubber estates in Malaya, businesses in Singapore, estates in Burma – which Rajkumar, with his Chinese, British and Burmese relations, friends and associates, builds up – from 1870 through the Second World War to the scattering of the extended family to New York and Thailand, London and Hong Kong in the post-war years. Ghosh's latest historical fiction, The Glass Palace, is a literary tour de force that takes readers on a journey through time and across continents. From the royal courts of Burma to the bustling streets of New York, London, and Hong Kong, the narrative is a rich tapestry of human experiences and historical events. For fans of Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children), Mohsin Hamid (Exit West), Abraham Verghese (The Covenant of Water), Sebastian Barry (The Temporary Gentleman), and Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient). HarperCollins 2023