Thalassa Ali, Companions of Paradise

Companions of Paradise

Thalassa Ali

Bantam, Apr 2007, $14.00

ISBN: 0553381784

In 1841 in Lahore, India, British expatriate Mariana Givens believes her husband Hassan Ali Khan, a Punjabi Muslim, plots to kill her Aunt Claire and Uncle Adrian, an Intel Officer. Outraged, she flees her new home demanding a divorce and travels to reside with her aunt and uncle behind the safe walls of the British fort near Kabul, Afghanistan.

However, once there, she hides from her family and the British officials and their dependents that she remains married. Mariana rues her rash rush to judgment as she misses her beloved Hassan, his four-year-old son Saboor, and her father-in-law, the renowned Sufi mystic. When Hassan fails to answer her pleading letters to forgive her, Mariana turns to a local soothsayer for advice. However, her biggest fear is the open hostilities between the British and the local supporters vs. the tribes who want the ousted king returned.

When the tale concentrates on the "first" Afghan war, COMPANIONS OF PARADISE is a superior period piece that brings to life the British mid-nineteenth-century colonization of the country. However, when the plot focuses on Mariana's introspective of her personal issues through dreams and fortune tellers, it loses some of the momentum. Still this final tale of Victorian India and Afghanistan can stand alone though it is enhanced by first reading A BEGGAR AT THE GATE and SINGULAR HOSTAGE. This is a fascinating and insightful look back with fascinating parallels to the modern day Afghan war.

Harriet Klausner