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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Torture and physical violence in the colonial context
Language
Some
Adult language in Scott's literary register
Sexual Content
A lot
Rape as the central event; depicted seriously and without exploitation
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The psychological horror of institutional racism — the certainty with which the British refuse to see — is the novel's sustained and devastating subject
What this book is about
The first Raj Quartet novel follows the aftermath of the rape of Daphne Manners, a British woman in Mayapore, and the false accusation and torture of Hari Kumar, a young Indian man. Scott uses this event to examine British rule in India — the racism, the complicity, the moral bankruptcy of the imperial project. One of the great post-colonial novels. The rape and subsequent torture are depicted with literary seriousness and genuine horror.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Rape as central event
Torture of an innocent man
Colonial racism throughout
Reader Verification
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