Un fleuve de fumée

The Ibis, Loaded To Its Gunwales With A Cargo Of Indentured Servants, Is In The Grip Of A Cyclone In The Bay Of Bengal; Among The Dozens Flailing For Survival Are Neel, The Pampered Raja Who Has Been Convicted Of Embezzlement; Paulette, The French Orphan Masquerading As A Deck Hand; And Deeti, The Widowed Poppy Grower Fleeing Her Homeland With Her Love, Kalua. The Storm Also Threatens The Clipper Ship Anahita, Groaning With The Largest Consignment Of Opium Ever To Leave India For Canton. And The Redruth, A Nursery Ship, Carries Fitcher' Penrose, A Horticulturist Determined To Track Down The Priceless Treasures Of China That Are Hidden In Plain Sight: Plants That Have The Power To Heal, Or Beautify, Or Intoxicate. All Will Converge In Canton's Fanqui-town, Or Foreign Enclave: A Tumultuous World Unto Itself Where Civilizations Clash And Sometime Fuse. It Is A Powder Keg Awaiting A Spark To Ignite The Opium Wars. Spectacular Coincidences, Startling Reversals Of Fortune, And Tender Love Stories Abound. But This Is Much More That An Irresistible Page-turner. The Blind Quest For Money, The Primacy Of The Drug Trade, The Concealment Of Base Impulses Behind The Rhetoric Of Freedom: In River Of Smoke, The Nineteenth And Twenty-first Centuries Meet, And The Result Is A Consuming Historical Novel With Powerful Contemporary Resonance. Critics Praised Sea Of Poppies For Its Vibrant Storytelling, Antic Humor, And Rich Narrative Scope; Now Amitav Ghosh Continues The Epic That Has Charmed And Compelled Readers All Over The Globe--provided By Publisher. Amitav Ghosh. The Ibis, loaded to its gunwales with a cargo of indentured servants, is in the grip of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal; among the dozens flailing for survival are Neel, the pampered raja who has been convicted of embezzlement; Paulette, the French orphan masquerading as a deck hand; and Deeti, the widowed poppy grower fleeing her homeland with her lover, Kalua. The storm also threatens the clipper ship Anahita, groaning with the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India for Canton. And the Redruth, a nursery ship, carries "Fitcher" Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down the priceless treasures of China that are hidden in plain sight: plants that have the power to heal, or beautify, or intoxicate. All will converge in Canton's Fanqui-Town, or Foreign Enclave: a tumultuous world unto itself where civilizations clash and sometimes fuse. It is a powder keg awaiting a spark to ignite the Opium Wars. Spectacular coincidences, startling reversals of fortune, and tender love stories abound. But this is much more than an irresistible page-turner. The blind quest for money, the primacy of the drug trade, the concealment of base impulses behind the rhetoric of freedom: in River of Smoke the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries meet, and the result is a consuming historical novel with powerful contemporary resonance. Critics praised Sea of Poppies for its vibrant storytelling, antic humor, and rich narrative scope; now Amitav Ghosh continues the epic that has charmed and compelled readers all over the globe" In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and the Ibis, a ship carrying a consignment of convicts and indentured laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius, is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas settle, five men have disappeared - two lascars, two convicts and one of the passengers. Did the same storm upend the fortunes of those aboard the Anahita, an opium carrier heading towards Canton? And what fate befell those aboard the Redruth, a sturdy two-masted brig heading East out of Cornwall? Was it the storm that altered their course or were the destinies of these passengers at the mercy of even more powerful forces? On the grand scale of an historical epic, River of Smoke follows its storm-tossed characters to the crowded harbors of China. There, despite efforts of the emperor to stop them, ships from Europe and India exchange their cargoes of opium for boxes of tea, silk, porcelain and silver. Among them are Bahram Modi, a wealthy Parsi opium merchant out of Bombay, his estranged half-Chinese son Ah Fatt, the orphaned Paulette and a motley collection of others whose pursuit of romance, riches and a legendary rare flower have thrown together. All struggle to cope with their losses - and for some, unimaginable freedoms - in the alleys and crowded waterways of 19th century Canton. " Et quand tout le reste sera oublié, les fleurs de Canton demeureront, n'est-ce pas ? " Canton, ou plutôt Fanqui Town, l'enclave réservée aux étrangers et interdite aux femmes, est un lieu de commerce, de luxure et de raffinement. Dans un bouillonnement de langues, commerçants anglais, grossistes américains et négociants indiens échangent leurs cargaisons d'opium contre la soie, le thé et la porcelaine fournis par les marchands chinois. L'argent coule à flots, les fêtes sont somptueuses, et les amitiés particulières mettent du piment dans ce microcosme étouffant. Mais, en cette année 1839, l'empereur de Chine, lassé des ravages de la drogue, exige la destruction de tous les stocks de la ville. Devant la menace, les équilibres savamment entretenus volent en éclats. La cupidité, la jalousie, les préjugés et le racisme pointent derrière les élégances de façade. Dans cette tragicomédie aux accents shakespeariens, deuxième volet d'une trilogie inaugurée par Un océan de pavots, des personnages inoubliables colorent de leurs turpitudes mais aussi de leur générosité les rives d'une ville extraordinaire désormais disparue. " Ghosh poursuit une oeuvre singulière et géniale : avec Un fleuve de fumée, l'auteur écrit l'un des meilleurs romans historiques de ces dernières années. " Time Out New York