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The April Selection for my library book group is The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye. It is a very long epic historical novel beginning in the mid 19th century in British India and ending in the late 1870s in Afghanistan. It is the story of a young boy named Ash whose British parents die while in India and a servant woman in the camp takes the toddler under her wing. While protecting him during the uprising where all British are being slaughtered the servant woman becomes so attached she does not want to give the child up. He grows into a youngster who does not know he is not a native until he is around Jr High aged at which time he is told and is sent to his extended family in England. After being educated in England he returns to what he considers his homeland and enters into a group of soldiers called "The Guides". Part of the time he is in The Guides he is a spy in Afghanistan and assumes an Afghan identity during those years of his life. As a result Ash has three identities and he lacks a sense of belonging in any of the three persona's. In each community - Hindu, Muslim and Christian - he has close friends but he feels cultural and religious barriers from time to time with all his close friends. During both the beginning and the ending of the book Ash is in search of a remote valley in the Himalayas where people are not killing each other over differences. Although I felt rushed trying to get through this book in time for next weeks meeting, it is a book I enjoyed very much and would highly recommend to others. Please click on the title and author's name above to follow the links to learn more about this novel. And enjoy the video below that explains some historical back ground of India during the time frame of the book.
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