The cast is marvelous and the plot majestically serpentine, but the real hero is the English language, which has rarely felt so alive and vibrant. Also on board is a formerly high caste raj who was brought down by Benjamin and is now on his way to a penal colony. Among the human cargo, there are three fugitives in disguise, two on the run from a vengeful family and one hoping to escape from Benjamin. Mulatto second mate Zachary Reid, a 20-year-old of Lord Jim–like innocence, is passing for white and doesn't realize his secret is known to the “gomusta” (overseer) of the coolies, Baboo Nob Kissin, an educated Falstaffian figure who believes Zachary is the key to realizing his lifelong mission. The first two-thirds of the book chronicles how the crew and the human cargo come to the vessel, now owned by rising opium merchant Benjamin Burnham. Miles of golden-orange poppies, purple desert sand-verbena and pink filaree are. , a ship transporting Indian “girmitiyas” (coolies) to Mauritius in 1838. T his year’s California wildflower superbloom is a historic phenomenon, brought on by an unprecedented wet winter. At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. T his year’s California wildflower superbloom is a historic phenomenon, brought on by an unprecedented wet winter. which has plenty of action and adventure à la Dumas, but moments also of Tolstoyan penetration-and a drop or two of Dickensian sentiment' (The Observer London). Diaspora, myth and a fascinating language mashup propel the Rubik's cube of plots in Ghosh's picaresque epic of the voyage of the Ibis The first in an epic trilogy, Amitav Ghoshs Sea of Poppies is 'a remarkably rich saga.

Sea of poppies