The Flight of the Swans - Softcover

Bai, D. Devika

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9814423114 ISBN 13: 9789814423113

Publisher: Monsoon Books

Synopsis

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.

About this title

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.

Review

Devika Bai has a wonderful eye for detail (Rani Manicka, author of 'The Rice Mother' (winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize))

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.

The Flight of the Swans contains a lot of historial, cultural and religious details.

New voice of Malaysian fiction ? Bai's debut novel is original in that she has woven Indian and Malaysian history together through the trials and tribulations of the Bhonsle clan. Asian tales of migration to the "West" and the attendant struggles with cultural differences are slowly becoming a dime a dozen. But how many of us have read a novel recently which takes us on the migratory journeys within Asia? Probably very few.

With her debut novel, 59-year-old Devika has shown that it's never too late to become a published author and one who is masterful at the art of unfurling tales with strong characters against the backdrop of rich historical fact and delicious fiction.

Edition details

• Publisher: Monsoon Books
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9814423114
• ISBN 13: 9789814423113
• Binding: Paperback