Eden Gardens

British India was not all about pukka sahibs in topees and linen suits, or memsahibs in muslin who flutter fans as they lounge on lush lawns surrounded by peacocks and hibiscus while being served gin-slings by dusky turbaned wallahs. While there is a hint of such stereotypes lurking in the background of this novel, it is primarily about the realities of pre-Independence India, when not all European residents were privileged or pampered and had just the same sorts of class struggles they would have had back home in England, but complicated by the racism, caste and political problems that are unique to India.
 
Maisy Brooks and her Mam live a marginal existence in a marginal suburb in Calcutta in the early 1940s. Mam is fond of rather too many gin-slings and similar beverages. After the death of her husband, she manages to get by in providing certain services to various gentlemen or soldiers passing through and who are usually known to Maisy as “uncles”. Mam is in denial about her situation and has the idea stuck in her head that one day soon someone will come along and solve all their problems, that they will be accepted by other white people and even gain access to the prestigious Tollygunge Club.
 
These are all pipe dreams, of course, and Maisy knows it, as does Pushpa, the ayah who has been with them for years. Mam is equally deluded that her daughter Maisy will have a better life, but it seems she is destined for a similar path to her mother, especially after she does the unthinkable and falls in love with Sunil Banerjee, her tutor’s son, and gives birth to a son, Charlie. Maisy catches the eye of Scots jute wallah Gordon, a friend of one of the “uncles”, and accepts the role of his mistress. But that doesn’t stop her searching for her true love, the missing Sunjil, and the implications of her actions will have dire consequences for all.
 
This is not always a comfortable read. There are confrontational passages about the realities of enforced prostitution as it affected Pushpa and others. After the Partition of India, all hell breaks loose and there are many graphic scenes of the atrocities that took place. Maisy can be annoying in her desire to be reunited with Sunil no matter the cost to others, and Mam’s avoidance of the truth is relentless. Pushpa suffers her tragedies yet she remains resilient and is far wiser than her white female companions.
 
A glossary of Indian words would have been useful for the uninitiated and there is a noticeable lack of historical notes on sources or anything about the author’s background in the 2015 library edition. Perhaps this will be rectified in subsequent editions.
 
There are some contrivances and gaps in a plot that meanders like the Hooghly, but the intense ambiance and thoroughly convincing sense of place and time remain constant throughout the novel. It is worth reading just for those aspects alone and I am happy to give it 4 1/2 stars.
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