The Glass Palace
SynopsisPlot
Set in Burma during the British invasion of 1885, this masterly novel tells the story of Rajkumar, a poor boy lifted on the tides of political and social chaos, who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. When soldiers force the royal family out of the Glass Palace and into exile, Rajkumar befriends Dolly, a young woman in the court of the Burmese Queen, whose love will shape his life. He cannot forget her, and years later, as a rich man, he goes in search of her. The struggles that have made Burma, India, and Malaya the places they are today are illuminated in this wonderful novel by the writer Chitra Divakaruni calls “a master storyteller
Story
About this book
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh opens in Mandalay in 1885, as British forces arrive to depose the Burmese monarchy. Among the crowds watching the royal family leave the palace is Rajkumar, an Indian boy living rough in the city. During the upheaval he encounters Dolly, a young attendant in the court of the Burmese Queen, and the brief meeting stays with him for years. As Rajkumar grows into a successful timber merchant in the teak forests of Burma, his determination to find Dolly again drives much of the story forward.
The novel follows several generations across Burma, India, and Malaya, tracking how colonial rule reshaped economies, borders, and personal loyalties in Southeast Asia. Ghosh grounds these large historical currents in the daily choices of families caught between cultures and empires. The teak trade, the Indian National Army, and the displacement of royal households all figure in the plot, connecting private lives to political forces that stretched across decades.
Ghosh draws on the real history of the Konbaung dynasty's fall and the British annexation of Upper Burma to anchor the fictional narrative. The title refers to the royal residence in Mandalay, parts of which were built with mirrored and glass-panelled walls.
