Why a Booktrail?
1885: A story over three generations and three countries
The Glass Palace
What you need to know before your trail
Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this is the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her. The struggles that have made Burma, India, and Malaya the places they are today are illuminated in the story of one boy…
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
The Bay of Bengal and the Bengal region straddles the modern-day borders of India, Bangladesh, Burma, and Malaysia – a melting pot of cultures and traditions. This part of the world is known for its changing borders and the time during the colonial times when borders seemed to be nothing more than lines in the sand.
As well as the story of a countries undergoing dramatic change, generations of multi-ethnic and multi-class families are going to be tested and more.
The entire novel is like a snapshot of various times in the story of this changing area of the world – The King of Burma’s exile and his subsequent life in India were very much real events real but there they are woven into a tale of the Rajkumar family and the comsequences of what happens next.
The Bay of Bengal becomes “A whirlpool of unease”
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Glass Palace
Author/Guide: Amitav Ghosh Destination: Burma, Mandalay, India, Malaysia, Malacca
Departure Time: 1850s onwards
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