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    The East Indian: A Novel
    The East Indian: A Novel
    The East Indian: A Novel
    Ebook357 pages4 hours

    The East Indian: A Novel

    By Brinda Charry

    4.5/5

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    An exhilarating debut novel about the first native of the Indian subcontinent to arrive in Colonial America, inspired by a historical figure—“marvelous…readers of Esi Edugyan and Yaa Gyasi will be enthralled” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

    Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company’s outpost on the Coromandel Coast to the teeming streets of London, young Tony finds himself in Jamestown, Virginia, where he and his fellow indentured servants—boys like himself, men from Africa, a mad woman from London—must work the tobacco plantations. Orphaned and afraid, Tony initially longs for home. But as he adjusts to his new environment, finding companionship and even love, he can envision a life for himself after servitude. His dream: to become a medicine man, or a physician’s assistant, an expert on roots and herbs, a dispenser of healing compounds.

    Like the play that captivates him—Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream—Tony’s life is rich with oddities and hijinks, humor and tragedy. Set during the early days of English colonization in Jamestown, before servitude calcified into racialized slavery, The East Indian gives authentic voice to an otherwise unknown historic figure and brings the world he would have encountered to vivid life. In this coming-of-age tale, narrated by a most memorable literary rascal, Charry conjures a young character sure to be beloved by readers for years to come.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateMay 2, 2023
    ISBN9781668004548
    Author

    Brinda Charry

    Brinda Charry came to the United States from India as a graduate student in 1999 and has been living here since. She is a novelist-turned-academic-returned-novelist. A specialist in English Renaissance literature (Shakespeare and contemporaries), she has published numerous books and articles in that field. The East Indian is her first novel published in the United States. She currently lives in Keene, New Hampshire, with her husband and dog.

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    Reviews for The East Indian

    4.5/5

    17 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is historical fiction at its best. An unnamed East Indian boy is given the name Tony by a Christian priest and then finds himself an orphan but this mother's lover finds him a place as a servant to a man going to London who dies before reaching England. Although a pre teen, Tony manages to survives on the streets and docks of London by working. Although desperately wanting to return to India, he finds himself on a ship headed for America along with two other young goys: Dick and even younger Sammy. The trip is brutal and they become indentured servants in Jamestown working for a cruel Mr. Ganter. There are scenes which are horrifying, scenes that are funny, but all are believable and seem to be accurate to the times. Other characters appear such as Mad Marge who was on the ship with them, a doctor who reluctantly takes Tony underwing and teaches him healing skills, and Lydia, a black slave. Throughout the story, Tony is neither black or white or American Indian and no one can figure how where he came from or what race he is. The story leaves on a somewhat happy ending skipping to the future so one knows the fate of Tony. A really interesting read and a side of history I had not read.
    • 4/5
      Set in the 17thC, an exciting historical adventure story based on the life of a real person, the first East Indian to set foot on American soil. Tony travels from the Coromandel coast, to the streets of London and then on to Virginia in the New World in the hope of a new life. He makes friends and enemies along the bumpy ride of a way.This is an imaginative and evocative tale with some fascinating and well drawn characters. I liked Tony and enjoyed following him on his journey. It’s not always a happy story and it’s quite dark at times, but still there is a smattering of hope throughout. It’s beautifully written, well researched and has some vivid and colourful descriptions, quite easy to visualise. I read this via the Pigeonhole app over ten days and was eager to read each stave. An absorbing and powerful read.

    Book preview

    The East Indian - Brinda Charry

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