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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A Rising Man, set in Calcutta after the First World War, is a very promising start to a new series! Sam Wyndham reminds me a bit of Barbara Cleverly’s Joe Sandilands. Surrender-not, Wyndham’s Indian side-kick is a welcome addition to this book, set in the uneasy period of The Amritsar Massacre, and the impending end of British rule in India.
Nothing radical here, but very nicely written and a fresh voice. I really enjoyed the read and will be seeking out the next in the series.
A police procedural set in Calcutta in 1919, this was excellent. It had a likeable protagonist, Sam, a white transfer from Scotland Yard and Special Branch, and his side kick Surrender-not, a Brahmin educated at Cambridge, and returned home. The tone was light and amusing for the most part, but also thoughtful about politics and India and Empire and relationships between the races.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
A good read. The plot was adequate, characters basically likable and the setting interesting. Will definitely try the next in the series when it comes out
A jolly good romp and amazing description of life in India in a conflicted land and times. Loved it
An enjoyable page-turner of a historical crime novel set in a crucial and fascinating period of British-Indian history, 1919. It's a whodunnit but with a serious political element concerning the wrongs committed by the British in India and the rise and repression of the independence movement. It's an interesting and uneasy mix of traditionally cosy British police detective-and-sidekick story and hard political drama, except here the British detective is a war-traumatised, widowed drug addict and his sidekick sergeant is a Cambridge-educated law graduate from a rich Calcutta family whose reason for joining the police is to ensure that come independence, India will have a competent and trained police force. It's a difficult balance for the author to have a detective who is very conscious of the racism in society, and conscious of his own racism, but not *too* racist to be palatable or too un-racist to be realistic for the time period. Setting the story immediately after the worldview-shattering horrors of WWI helps to that end and the drug addition felt like an effort to give the hero a major flaw that would counterbalance his relative wokeness. He's also kind of gross around women. I liked his sidekick, Sergeant Surendranath "Surrender-not" Banerjee, a great deal though, and look forward to reading the next book in the series.
(How long before they make a TV series?!)
(How long before they make a TV series?!)
Quite a few anachronisms scattered throughout, but if you suspend disbelief, its an enjoyable read. Being from Calcutta, really brought home how little has really changed.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Rising Man is a heady introduction to 1910s Calcutta and Capt. Sam Wyndham, hinge though it does on an old-school trope that Mukherjee conceals extremely well.
In fact, a lot of the book does seem like “been there, seen that”, be it the fact that Wyndham is already a bit of a hero when he is introduced, that he is hooked to opium, or that he has a pain-in-the-neck colleague, plus foes within his own establishment.
None of this takes away from Mukherjee’s world. Reading the novel, one never feels as if it’s been written by a non-native. Mukherjee conjures up 1919 Calcutta splendidly, adding to the plot the raging political debate of the time (the timeline of the book coincides with the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre). You can feel each sense that Wyndham feels – the weather, the sights of the former capital of the Raj, the smells – wonderful and woeful.
Serving more as an introduction to a series, ARM is naturally heavier on character than it is in plot, though the two jostle about quite a bit. In Surendranath “Surrender-Not” Banerjee, Wyndham’s native assistant, Mukherjee delivers an interesting character. Banerjee is a reflection of Indian sentiments of the time, and his presence and views, as well as those of Wyndham (who seems to have more frowns than grins about the Raj’s workings), make the book more than a murder-mystery – an exploration of the suppression of Indians by the British, the feelings of those Indians who served the establishment, and the opinions of the Englishmen who felt their regime’s actions were questionable.
By adding to the mix Annie – an Anglo-Indian girl – Mukherjee forces us to pay attention to the “third” kind of people in India – ostracised by both sides. And he fortunately doesn’t turn her into a damsel-in-distress. In fact, she holds her own remarkably well, not hesitating in the slightest to tell Wyndham to buzz off when he becomes a bit of a bother.
In fact, a lot of the book does seem like “been there, seen that”, be it the fact that Wyndham is already a bit of a hero when he is introduced, that he is hooked to opium, or that he has a pain-in-the-neck colleague, plus foes within his own establishment.
None of this takes away from Mukherjee’s world. Reading the novel, one never feels as if it’s been written by a non-native. Mukherjee conjures up 1919 Calcutta splendidly, adding to the plot the raging political debate of the time (the timeline of the book coincides with the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre). You can feel each sense that Wyndham feels – the weather, the sights of the former capital of the Raj, the smells – wonderful and woeful.
Serving more as an introduction to a series, ARM is naturally heavier on character than it is in plot, though the two jostle about quite a bit. In Surendranath “Surrender-Not” Banerjee, Wyndham’s native assistant, Mukherjee delivers an interesting character. Banerjee is a reflection of Indian sentiments of the time, and his presence and views, as well as those of Wyndham (who seems to have more frowns than grins about the Raj’s workings), make the book more than a murder-mystery – an exploration of the suppression of Indians by the British, the feelings of those Indians who served the establishment, and the opinions of the Englishmen who felt their regime’s actions were questionable.
By adding to the mix Annie – an Anglo-Indian girl – Mukherjee forces us to pay attention to the “third” kind of people in India – ostracised by both sides. And he fortunately doesn’t turn her into a damsel-in-distress. In fact, she holds her own remarkably well, not hesitating in the slightest to tell Wyndham to buzz off when he becomes a bit of a bother.
It just seems all over the place, with inconsistent characterization and voice.