The Flight of the Swans

by Devika D Bai

Overview

The Flight of the Swans is a family saga set in British India and Malaya, which unfolds against the backdrop of war, famine, family conflict, social injustice, and sacrifice. Blending history and fiction and spanning half a century, the novel tells a tragic tale of love, loyalty, and courage of three generations of the Bhonsle family who dream impossible dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789810523671
Publisher:	Monsoon Books Pte. Ltd.
Publication date:	04/22/2005
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

Born in Malaysia, D. Devika Bai is a retired school administrator. Her short stories and articles have been published in print in Singapore and Malaysia, and online in several North American e-publications. She is the great-granddaughter of one of the earliest Tanjore Maratha immigrants to British Malaya. She resides in Rawang, Malaysia.

Table of Contents

Part 1 PART ONE Chapter 2 Ramdas Rao Bhonsle Chapter 3 Killa Chapter 4 The Flight Chapter 5 Champakapur Chapter 6 Of Rice-planting and Goat Testicles Chapter 7 Vrishabha Part 8 PART TWO Chapter 9 Tara Bai Chapter 10 The Arsa Mahal Chapter 11 The Rich Citizen Chapter 12 Refuge Part 13 PART THREE Chapter 14 Madhav Rao Bhonsle Chapter 15 Revelations Chapter 16 Married Life Chapter 17 The Neighbourhood Chapter 18 The Falling into Place Part 19 PART FOUR Chapter 20 Arundhati Bai Bhonsle Chapter 21 The Crossing Chapter 22 In a New Land Chapter 23 An Oversight Chapter 24 Prospect Part 25 PART FIVE Chapter 26 The Third Eye Opens Part 27 EPILOGUE

Editorial Reviews

This may be author D. Devika Bai's debut novel but with The Flight of the Swans, she has firmly marked for herself a place in the Malaysian literary scene. Last week, her book was at No. 5 on the MPH Bestseller List ? Devika has that certain style that swallows us straight into the book. She paints a vivid description of the battlefield scene, enveloping us with the cries of wounded men, sounds of rifle fire and exploding cannons. Devika spins the captivating tale so well that at times I found it hard to put the book down, often bargaining with myself for another two more pages at the breakfast table before I leave for the office ? She leads us on a journey of loyalty, romance, family conflict, social injustice and dreams. As the tale unravels, we follow the fortunes of the Bhonsles from the royal household of the Rani and the Killa battlefield to a humble village of farmers and finally to the British colony of Georgetown, Penang; we grow with the family, living their lives and feeling the passions of sons Nilkanth, an irascible gangster, and Madhav, the romantic dreamer. Both want the same girl, Tara Bai, the most beautiful courtesan in the land. We also get an exotic view of British Penang where Mukta's eyes open wide with childlike wonder to see the British, Indians, Chinese and Malays living side by side; we are filled with hope and pray for the cheerful Arundhati, the blind granddaughter, so she may be able to see some day. The book provides an insight into the Mahrattas - a fiercely independent but clannish people from west-central India who were mostly warriors and farmers. That in the book Killa Fort was ruled by a Rani comes as no surprise as it was the Mahrattas who preached human equality and crushed the Indian caste system. But Devika still has one twist to the tale, one that sees me wiping away a tear at the very end.

From the Publisher

Devika Bai has a wonderful eye for detail

Rani Manicka