Great Eastern Hotel

'Riotously audacious and entertaining cinematic, jazzlike, a humdinger of a novel' KAMILA SHAMSIE A rich, teeming, involving epic of war, famine, love and culture-clash in imperial Calcutta during World War Two Joshi is the brand new experience after Rushdie: a megashow, Russian in size, Indian in soul' India Today The world is at war. And at the Great Eastern, Calcuttas most luxurious hotel, amidst the feasting, dancing and laughter, we witness the metropolis in the last moments before multiple disasters strike. The story begins in August 1941, on the day Rabindranath Tagore dies. The city has come to a standstill as thousands of people line the streets to pay their respects. Among them are: Nirupama, a student of history and a volunteer with the Communist Party of India; Imogen, a young Englishwoman whose father is an official with the Raj; Kedar, the scion of a wealthy family, who dreams of painting like Czanne; and Gopal, a young but experienced pickpocket, who finds himself promoted into a dark, dangerous world. Their lives intertwine with those at the hotel: an American soldier who plays jazz at the nightclub; a genius French chef; an heiress fleeing from the nightmare in Europe; and a group of military officers running a secret intelligence operation. Singularly ambitious and attentive, Ruchir Joshis Great Eastern Hotel maps this simmering pause at a crucial juncture in history, and offers new contexts to the upheavals of our present, raising vital questions about political commitment, nationalism, love and art.