The Far Pavilions

This is a magnificent romantic/historical/adventure novel set in India at the time of mutiny. "The Far Pavilions" is a story of 19th Century India, when the thin patina of English rule held down dangerously turbulent undercurrents. It is a story about an English man - Ashton Pelham-Martyn - brought up as a Hindu and his passionate, but dangerous love for an Indian princess. It is the story of divided loyalties, of friendship that endures till death, of high adventure and of the clash between East and West. To the burning plains and snow-capped mountains of this great, humming continent, M.M. Kaye brings her quite exceptional gift of storytelling and meticulous historical accuracy, plus her insight into the human heart.