[[ghosh]]River of Smoke is the second book in Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis trilogy. In the first, Sea of Poppies, we were introduced to a cast of characters who had all, for one reason or another, ended up on the Ibis, a ‘blackbirder’ (a ship carrying indentured Indians and British prisoners) bound for Mauritius. The characters were brilliantly drawn and the book was an exquisite, completely engrossing read, especially for those with an interest in the evolution of language, and Asian history.

In River of Smoke we follow the fortunes of some of these characters. Most of the action is set in Canton, on the eve of the outbreak of the First Opium War. Bahram Moddie is a Parsi merchant from Bombay. Widely respected amongst the Western and Chinese traders in Canton, he is making an important trip from Bombay to Canton with the largest load of opium he has ever carried. He loses some to a storm, but there is a bigger problem looming; the Chinese have decided they no longer want opium on their shores and have stopped ships carrying opium from entering their ports.

The Western traders (and Moddie) are outraged. But the Chinese authorities are adamant; opium has become the plague of their country, while the West bans it from their shores precisely because of its dangers. What follows is a battle of wills that exposes the hypocrisy of the merchants, their evident lack of regard for the welfare of the Chinese people fracturing longstanding friendships between East and West. Of course, there is much more to the story. As it unfolds, we also learn about the horticultural exchange between China and the West, and about the origins of the opium trade itself, but all this information, based on historical fact, is seamlessly woven into an epic narrative about the colonial history of the East.

Ghosh manages to recreate place and eras with what seems like no effort at all and his depiction of Canton is mesmerising; you can almost hear the noise and bustle of the place. Ghosh’s tremendous eye for detail is most evident in the creation of his characters. We are reintroduced to Neel, the dispossessed Raja we met in the first book, who is now Moddie’s secretary, and to Paulette, the adventurous French orphan, also first introduced in Sea of Poppies, who is searching for Chinese horticultural specimens. Ghosh’s depiction of them and their journeys adds incredible richness to his account, and offers us different perspectives on Canton and this particular time in history.

I reviewed Sea of Poppies back in 2008 and wrote that I was most upset to have to wait for the next instalment. Once again, I find myself in thrall to Ghosh’s storytelling and eager to know what happens next. I hope the wait for the final book in the trilogy won’t be as long!

Kabita Dhara, is acting editor of

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