An historical novel set in Calcutta in 1756 about events in the British colony leading up to its conquest and destruction by a native ruler.

Meira Chand specializes in accurate and well-researched historical novels. This one about India explores her own roots there. Her parents were European and Indian, and she lived in India and wrote there for years. In A Far Horizon, she explores relationships between the British and those they sought to colonize. She re-imagines how and why Calcutta was taken in the 1750s and that many English and Indians killed. The story was originally told with many exaggerations by the City Magistrate John Howell who survived the attack. His version of what happened in the “Black Hole of Calcutta” inspired much hatred of Indians by the British. While not excusing Indian cruelty, Chand offers a different narrative.

The actions and reactions of the British leaders are the focus of much of this book. As the story opens, representatives of the East Indian Company govern the colony at Calcutta with Indian rulers in control nearby. The city itself is divided into White Town and Black Town. The British City Magistrate and his rival, the Governor, each try, through treachery and illicit means, to control the chain of succession after the death of the native ruler. When they fail, the new ruler gathers a large army to attack them. As the army approaches Calcutta, the British arrogantly assume themselves beyond harm when in fact they are terribly vulnerable. When the attack comes, chaos and humiliation of the British ensue, all described in detail by Chand. Out of his own anger and humiliation, the City Magistrate writes his own account, as account that has been challenged not only by Chand but by scholars.

Along the political and military narrative, Chand tells the stories of those related to them; mostly the stories of women. Sati is a young woman of both Indian and European descent. Sometimes she slips into trances where the powerful goddess, Druga, possesses and speaks through her. Because of this, she comes to be revered as God Woman by neighbors who revere her.

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this is historical fiction at it's best. It tells the story of the British community in India in the months before the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta. The key characters are real, as was Fort William and the book is well researched. Ms. Chand has published 6 previous novels and this book received excellent reviews in England. The edition I have is Pheonix pb published in the UK and Canada in 2001 but I would think her books including this one would be readily available on the Internet. ( )