A Beggar at the Gate by Thalassa Ali

A Beggar at the Gate by Thalassa Ali

As Lahore's rose scented air is rent by political feuding and tension, Mariana Givens must choose between her beloved little stepson and the life she has always known. Two years earlier, in 1838, Mariana became the guardian of three-year-old Saboor. They now live in Calcutta with her aunt and uncle, but Mariana is ostracised by the British community for her impulsive marriage to Saboor's native father. Her relatives insist she return to Lahore, a journey of over a thousand miles by river and on horseback, to ask for a divorce. This will mean giving up Saboor, but it may allow her to find a British husband and have a life of her own. Once in Lahore, as violence swirls around her, she is drawn towards the spiritual culture of her husband's Muslim family, and begins to wonder if she can bear to be cut off from them for ever.

'Ali convincingly captures both Victorian-era Punjabi and British court culture, and her description of the conniving ineptitude of the British as they travel across the subcontinent humanizes them' Publishers Weekly -- Publishers Weekly 20041004 'Colourful, love-crossing boundaries stuff' Bookseller -- Bookseller 20040924 'Beautifully written, this novel transports the reader back to the 19^{th century, British Imperialism and the pull of two cultures in an ever-changing world' -- Lancashire Evening Post 20040501 'Between the gaps separating Christians and Muslims, spirituality abounds, and Ali writes with a clarity often lacking in this subject' -- Good Book Guide 20041101}

Thalassa M Ali was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the daughter of two archaeologists: one English and one American. She received her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Radcliffe College in 1962. A year later she married a young man from Lahore, Pakistan, and moved to that country, where she remained for twelve years, dividing her time between Karachi and Lahore. Widowed suddenly at the age of thirty-one, she spent her last three years in Pakistan carrying on her deceased husband's businesses. After returning to Boston with her two children in 1975, she became a stockbroker. While her children were growing, she worked at various investment houses, managing money for individual clients. In 1993, with her children launched, she turned to writing. Ali's love for Pakistan has remained strong over the past twenty-six years. She converted to Islam in 1984 on one of her many visits there. She is a member of Tauhidia, a Sufi brotherhood, whose headquarters are in Karachi. While still living in Pakistan, she began collecting books on nineteenth-century India with the intention of writing about that time and place. This is her first novel.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780747267737
ISBN 10	0747267731
Titel	A Beggar at the Gate
Autor	Thalassa Ali
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Headline Publishing Group
Erscheinungsjahr	2005-01-03
Seitenanzahl	352
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar