The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye

I read The Far Pavilions for my historical fictions book group. I would rate it about 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it, but found it kind of slow moving. It takes place in India in the 19th century. The book consists of three stories. The first part introduces Ashton Pelham-Martyn an English boy whose parents die and is raised by Sita, their Indian maid as Ashok, and Indian child. Ash and Sita live in Gulkote with the prince Lalji. Ash is his servant, his reward for saving his life. Here he meets Lali's half-sister Anjuli. I found this section of the book very interesting. It contained a lot of Indian culture of how people were treated with respect to royalty, the role of women, and how the royal family worked. One custom that was introduced was suttee, which although outlawed was still practiced in many small towns. Suttee is where a widow throws herself on her husnands pyre and burns herself along with him.

The next part of the book is where Ashok escapes from Gulkote and returns to England and joins the English military, The Guides. Here he meets and falls in love with Belinda. This is where the story slows down again.

Fast forward a few years and Ash is sent on a mission to escort a wedding party to Bhithor where a two women are to marry the Raj. He finds out that one is his beloved Anjuli and the other his her sister Shushila. Shushila is the head bride, Anjuli is just along for the ride. Here Ash and Juli confess their love for each other and he asks her to run away with him, but she says that she must stay with her sister. So, he goies back to his army work. Later, he finds out that the Raj is on his death bed and both sisters are expected to take part in suttee. So, Ash goes to rescue Juli. Needless to say, he is successful and they marry, which was a big deal because of him being English and her Indian, which complicates the Indian caste system.

Here is where I thought the book should end, but it continues on into the Ash's role in the Anglo-Afghan war. There is little mention of Juli and their relationship. In fact,at one point he says he was gong to do what he wanted regardless of her. Why bother going through all the trouble of rescuing her. I don't know if it was because I wanted to be through with the book, but I did not like this part. I have attached a link to the war which gives information about this part of the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Game