Shrimant Acharya

Amelia, a British woman, is living in The Residency (British Fort) in Lucknow with her Brigadier husband. She had dreamed from childhood to become something which was not the norm of the society in the 1850s (‘Me Too’ type). But she has to flee when she realises her husband is a psycho and has murdered his first wife. When she set her feet outside home, with plans to go to Calcutta and take a ship to London, the civil war (the historically famous Sepoy Mutiny) was full on. And on the way she takes help of a woman, Sehnaz, who was going to Varanasi in a boat in the river Gomti. Amelia finds out Sehnaz is probably a courtesan (and she was) and she is carrying information which could massacre all the English families living inside The Residency. And the drama starts. Particularly I love those dialogues: In Chapter 8- Chetan was not sure who was thinking, his head or his departed soul. In Chapter 9 by Amelia’s psycho husband- Then she would have appreciated that his slap was, in fact, an expression of love. In Chapter 19 by Sehnaz- Did you wait for the day when I would fold my hands? There are many more. The book doesn’t reflect the accurate history. But then the author has also declared so in the beginning. So read this only as a fiction, not as a history book. The story is spicy and would keep you guessing. Five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐from me.