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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Epic historical violence — the novel spans decades of the Great Game and colonial conflict
Language
Some
Adult literary language from a 1978 epic novel
Sexual Content
Some
Sexual content is present but tasteful by modern standards — a product of its era
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking in colonial India settings
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The tragedy of two people whose love is impossible within the structures of empire creates profound and sustained psychological weight
What this book is about
Ashton Pelham-Martyn is orphaned in India and raised as an Indian child before his true identity is revealed. As an adult officer in the British Indian Army, he is reunited with Anjuli, a Rajput princess he knew as a child — and the love between them is forbidden by empire, caste, and circumstance. M.M. Kaye's 1978 epic is one of the great historical novels of the twentieth century — sweeping, beautiful, and unsparing about the violence of empire.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Epic historical violence including battle sequences and colonial executions
The sati tradition depicted — a widow expected to self-immolate with her husband
Profound and possibly tragic romantic outcome — readers debate the ending
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