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Reviewed by Catherine Anderson The women who populate the richly redolent pages of Anne de Courcy’s The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj had, we are led to understand, one overpowering goal, and one alone: to hook, and marry, an eligible bachelor. This apparently was the aim of any self-respecting Victorian miss who, if still unmarried at 22, was considered … Continue reading
Miranda Kennedy spent five years in Delhi as a reporter. Her book, Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India, tells the stories of women she befriended and their struggles with love and marriage. It is also an intriguing memoir about the challenges of being a female foreign correspondent. She spoke to Angus McDonald about the … Continue reading
Anand Giridharadas, India Calling What does it feel like to be both inside and outside a culture? When Anand Giridharadas moved to Bombay after being raised in the US, he found that he had to reassess his understanding of a country he had always viewed from afar and through the eyes of an Indian American. … Continue reading
In the epilogue to Culture on the Edge, Phil Borges turns his lens inward. ‘I didn’t want to point an accusing finger. After a year and a half traveling across the Tibetan plateau and seeing the issues the Tibetans face, my finger ultimately came around to point at me.’ He is talking about climate change, … Continue reading
I went to a dance bar in Bangalore a few years ago, having harassed my friend Vijay into taking me along for a look. The scene was booming then, in the wake of a crackdown in Bombay. But what confronted us was a surprise after all the lurid press reports. Fully dressed women, most in … Continue reading
HISTORY DEMYSTIFIED The book starts with a dramatic moment. In the eighth century a brand new Tibetan empire burst out of the plateau, taking everyone by surprise when it captured the Chinese capital in 763. The Tibetans have never forgotten, and it’s unlikely the Chinese have either. The story of Tibet had actually begun a … Continue reading
These twenty stories are about people displaced: Australians wandering Asia in search of something. It might all be fiction, but it has the ring of truth. ‘She gave up writing straightforward accounts of her journeys years ago. She has surrendered herself to her love of fiction.’ This is Maria, an ageing backpacker washed up amongst … Continue reading
This collection is the exact opposite of Theroux’s other travel writing. Usually he goes abroad and writes about novels. This time he stays at home and writes about travel books. It works. Whether you’re a fan of Theroux or not – and this reviewer is not – read on. The beauty of this book is … Continue reading
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