The Glass Palace spans a century and details the developments in Burma, Bengal, India, and Malaya from the fall of the last Burmese dynasty, the Konbaung Dynasty, until the present. Rajkumar Raha, the story’s protagonist, was an 11-year-old boy when he worked at a food stand beneath Mandalay’s Glass Palace, the home of King Thibaw, his wife, and their daughters, the princesses. Rajkumar met Dolly, one of the princesses’ attendants, during the British invasion of Burma, and they fell in love—the plot centers the exiled royal family of Burma in Ratnagiri. The story then traveled from Ratnagiri to Malaya, Burma, and India.
Historical fiction rarely falls short, and The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh is no exception. In order to give the work historical credibility, Ghosh traveled and conducted research for five years. His perseverance eventually paid off, and he was able to create a gripping and dramatic tale about a nation torn apart by war. The family at the center of the narrative struggles mightily to adapt to changing times and circumstances.
In addition to providing personal glimpses into the lives of the main characters, the novel also covered colonialism as a whole and colonial mentality in particular. It emphasized how colonialism, particularly British colonialism, altered Mandalay’s history and the dynamics of daily life in the formerly prosperous kingdom. The vanquishers took over most of the kingdom’s riches and profited from them. The king’s head was exiled in order to avoid stirring up patriotism. The conquerors had to first regulate whatever the former king could do.
The plot also has some romantic undertones, which is something that family sagas frequently have. The story also touched on a wide range of family-related themes, including infidelity, betrayals, and difficulties in royal marriages. The Mandalay royalties are prohibited from marrying anyone who does not have royal lineage, just like other monarchs. The royalties consider marriage to a commoner to be a grave sin. Those who engage in this behavior risk being expelled from the royal family.
A touching tale about friendships and families is found in The Glass Palace. Family members could wage war on one another all they want, but ultimately, they are connected by an elusive thread. Whatever travesties a person commits, they are always pardoned because they are loved. It ultimately boils down to the fact that, as the book demonstrates, no family is ever perfect. The excessive number of losses and fatalities is something I regret in the book, though. Everyone seems to be passing away one by one, and it appears that just one will survive and return to the beginning.
The plot benefited from Amitav Ghosh’s writing style, which bent toward the mundane and was devoid of extravagant displays yet nevertheless neat and clinical. Nothing in the story needs to be further explained because it is all extremely clear. The main characters, at least, were expertly created. Most of the supporting characters lacked depth. There are so many people in family sagas that it may be difficult to keep track of them all, which is maybe one of their inherent flaws. I suppose authors purposefully spend less time developing them. I must also draw attention to the book’s complexity as another flaw. Ghosh could have left out a few extraneous details without ruining the story.
Nonetheless, The Glass Palace did end up making me enjoy reading more because it included some of my favourite reading elements, including history, family sagas, and culture. This synergy produced a syncopated reading when it was mixed with Ghosh’s writing. Ghosh’s years of dedication to learning about the tale have paid off, as he was able to do the storyline properly. There were some successes and failures, but they were insignificant and had little impact on the reading process. Because of their length, rhythm has always been crucial to me while reading family sagas, and Ghosh nailed it. He provided me with a fun reading experience.
Writer:
Risalat Rahman Hridoy
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE