The Glass Palace follows the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy from India working at a market stall in Mandalay outside the Glass Palace – the seat of the Burmese royal family – as he finds his way to fortune against the backdrop of various political and social changes across South East Asia, via rubber plantations in Malaya, businesses in Singapore and finally a teak forest back in Burma (modern day Myanmar).
The novel starts during the British invasion of 1885, when the Burmese royal family are forcibly removed from their beautiful Glass palace into exile. Rajkumar meets Dolly, a girl in the Queen’s court, whom he never forgets and will spend years searching for later in life, following the exiled royal family all the way to India.
A marvelous novel, The Glass Palace brings to life the tensions between Burma, India, Malaya and the British, following Rajkumar’s story from the late nineteenth century through to the post-war period and beyond, beautifully evoking the struggles that shaped the future identities of these countries.
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand this part of the world and the impacts of colonialism better.
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