A Singular Hostage

You can read this marvelous novel for the spell-binding story alone, but you'll take away much more. Especially if your mission as a reader is to find out about Islamic culture through richly imagined fictional characters that come alive before your eyes. You will be transported through sight, sound and smell to the Punjab of the 1830's, undisturbed by a single anachronism. Dialogue among the Brits is perfectly rendered pre-Victorian, but it's the Punjabi family of mystics that you shall not have seen the likes of elsewhere. At a time when the West is struggling for an accurate understanding of Muslims, wondering, "What do they really think, anyway? And how do they really feel?," this novel, set far away and long ago, is fascinatingly pertinent. A visit to the writer's Web site, www.ThalassaAli.com, shows that her life has superbly prepared her for her work. If you enjoy defeating ignorance while being royally entertained, this book is for you.

I think the last time I was so enthralled in a book was when I read The Red Tent. This book is well written, extremely interesting, and drags you in and keeps you there until the finish. I was disappointed to see no more books available by this author. I'll be waiting for the next one to come out.On the cover, this book was likened to The Far Pavilions, but I think it is much better.

Thalassa Ali puts us in the middle of India during the time of the Raj. All your senses are involved in the reading of this book. Ali puts us so in touch with her subject that we can't pull away from this exciting place in time. Action, suspense, love, emotion, revulsion, attraction. Excellent. Would have liked a bit stronger ending, but it was satisfying, nonetheless.

A Singular Hostage is the first book in a projected trilogy by Thalassa Ali. I can't wait till the next book in the series, apparently to be titled 'A Beggar at the Gate' and out in 2003, as the ending to this one is a cliff hanger and I wanted more! The heroine has been sent out to the India of the Raj and the East India Company to find a husband. She accompanies Lord Auckland on his march of thousands to the durbar with Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Punjab in 1838, where the British hope to enlist Ranjit Singh's aid in what will become the first Afghan war.There is little actual romance in A Singular Hostage, as the hero and heroine, strangers to each other, come into random contac, unknowing that the future will bring them together. However, it seems this romance will develop in the future books.Mariana, the heroine, is a rather naive and headstrong girl, who is not having much luck in securing a husband, and faces the dreaded fate of returning home an unmarriageable spinster. On the march to the Punjab she develops an unfashionable, and suspicious from the British point of view, fascination with Indian culture and language. This brings her into a plot involving the baby Saboor, grandson of a Sufi sheik, held hostage by Ranjit Singh and ultimately into contact with his father, Hassan, the hero, who will become her husband against her will. Thalassa Ali is herself a Sufi, and there are allusions to Sufi mysticism through the book. The author draws the flavours of the India of the Raj and the Princely States very well too. If you enjoy M M Kaye, Rebecca Ryman and Valerie Fitzgerald's historical romances of 19th century India I would recommend Thalassa Ali. The only problem I had with this book was that the ending is abrupt and obviously the story will be continued in the sequel. I wish the trilogy had been published in one go, as this means waiting yearly for the next installment!

This novel combines great storytelling with meticulous historical accuracy. Living in what is now Pakistan in the mid-nineteenth century, the heroine juggles conflicting tendencies within herself--respect for tradition as well as a natural proclivity to break the rules, a strong sense of her British heritage as well as an attraction to subcontinental sensibilities, and a headstrong intelligence that does not drown out the inchoate longings of her heart. The story brings us into a world that is inhabited by Muslim mystics, charismatic teachers, pontiffs who play dumb to mask "smart as a fox" finaglings, and a child who is beloved and irresistible. At the end of the novel, Ali leaves us tantalized and eager for the next book. Beautifully written.