The Flight of the Swans

The Flight of the Swans is a rich and fascinating family saga set in British India and Malaya. Cursed, and with blood on his hands, Captain Ramdas Rao Bhonslé is forced to flee Killa Fort, which has fallen to the British. A strange flight of swans signals his flight from Killa; a flight that will drive Ramdas and his family into further adversity. But great adversity spawns great dreams. Ramdas dreams of ousting the British from his motherland. His sons, the handsome and irascible Nilkanth and the plain and romantic Madhav dream of possessing the same girl, Tara Bai, who is the most beautiful courtesan in the land. And Ramdas' granddaughter, blind Arundhati, dreams only of seeing one day.

Woven into this tapestry is a lone white swan inextricably linked to the ebb and flow of the Bhonsles' fortunes as they flee across India to Malaya. In the new land, they find solace in Penang Island's embrace. They make history as they pioneer the birth of the Federated Malay States Railways; they wallow in the scent of spices and wonder at the rich blend of migrants and cultures on the island, and they bask in the warmth of its natives until Fate drags them back to India where it deals them its final blow.

At once magical, poignant and exotic, Devika Bai's debut novel mesmerises as it unravels the love, loyalty and courage of the Bhonsles. The saga unfolds against the backdrop of war, famine, family conflict and social injustice, and hurtles towards its inevitable end in a masterful blend of history and fiction.