Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Faculty/Staff Recommendation
by Erica Bretall
Zachary--a carpenter by trade who goes from novice sailor to first mate in his first sea voyage due to maladies and misfortunes plaguing the crew.  Deeti--a wife and a farmer who has lost her food crops and her husband to the insatiable poppy industry.  Jodu and Paulette--orphans and adopted siblings separated by a hierarchical society that leaves them at opposite ends.  Neel--a Raja struggling to maintain his father's legacy while paying off the debts he left him.  Under normal circumstances these people would never meet, but in desperate times fate twists their lives unexpectedly and leads them down the same path: towards the Ibis, at sail on the Ganges and beyond.

This novel reminded me of Dickens in its focus on multiple characters, many of the lower classes, whose stories interweave.  While many of them are Englishmen, its setting is very different from that of most Dickens novels taking place in India, Mauritius, and the sea between the two countries.  I enjoyed reading about the clash of cultures and all the different languages and the sailor's 'pijjin' in particular.  If you want to get away from it all without leaving your living room, this is the book for you.