Author: Pran Nevile
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1995
Language: English
Pages: 183
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0140252142
Description
This selection of twenty-one stories of the Raj, written as fiction but all based on fact, shows a hitherto unknown side of the Empire.
The British came to India in search of wealth and power. But it was a man's world and women, especially English women, were few. An English bride for long remained an expensive proposition, costing a small fortune to bring to Calcutta, and was quite out of the reach of young career-minded officers and civil servants.
Driven by loneliness, lust or just plain longing, many looked for companionship among Indian women, or where the more rakish among them were concerned, the bored wives of fellow officers. But love in a hot climate could prove a fiery affair. One man, reduced to cringing submission by his native housekeeper-mistress, fled across the country to board ship for home, pursued all the way in a palanquin by the furious maid.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
ONE : William Hickey and His Bibi Jemdanee
TWO : Reminiscences of a Half-Caste
THREE : Revenge of the Native Mistress
FOUR : Begum Sumroo's Escapade
FIVE : The Intrigues of Nabob
SIX : Reunion at Nagpore
SEVEN : An Invisible Attraction
EIGHT : Reminiscences of Shaik Ismael
NINE : The Captain's Betrayal
TEN : The Tank Tragedy
ELEVEN : The Deserted Husband and the Criminal Lover
TWELVE : Madame Grand's Great Passion
THIRTEEN : Marriage, a Take-in on Both Sides
FOURTEEN : The Faithless Fiancé
FIFTEEN : The Hollow Tooth
SIXTEEN : Infatuation in Middle Age
SEVENTEEN : A Marriage Made in Heaven
EIGHTEEN : The Compassionate Judge
NINETEEN : Lure of Money
TWENTY : The Grass Widow
TWENTY ONE : A Woman of Pleasure
TWENTY TWO : Sources