A review by caitpaige
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

4.0

This book is much more than the synopsis suggests - it's not just the story of a couple in late-19th century Burma, but a family saga that stretches from that time to the present day, weaving a complex cast of characters through the historical events that affected India and Burma in the 20th century. It is nicely written, with vivid imagery, and dynamic characters (I think a family tree diagram would have been more helpful than the map at the front of the book though). My only complaint is that the last part of the book seemed very rushed. After setting a steady pace through 400 pages, the story suddenly sped up, rushing through a few generations of the family and swiftly killing off characters that were no longer needed. My impression is that the author suddenly realized he could not spend another 400 pages addressing the second half of the 20th century and panicked. Still, it was a good story and the very end had the clever little play that I enjoy in a book and found redeemed the rushed ending.