By David McMahon
Muskoka Maharani's humble look captures my attention, as I stroll through the uninteresting bestsellers in the 'mini' book shop at my office. The synopsis is decent enough to make me buy the book. It was a pleasant read letting us a glimpse of the Anglo-Indian life in British India. This could've easily qualified as one of the memorable books for me if only the publisher had forgotten to print the last fifteen pages. For a book of such great potential, it's a pity that the climax is just run of the mill.
Harry Barnsley travels to Muskoka, a small township in Canada to get the 'biggest story of the decade'. He was a given a last chance to hold his job as a newspaper reporter in Australia. His Anglo-Indian friend recommends him to meet her aunt Serena in Muskoka to know about a German spy during the Second World War. So Harry learns not about the war or the spy but about the typical life in railway colonies of British India. Good for Harry and good for us as the biggest story turned out to be the biggest joke of the decade.
The life at Marsdengunj in Eastern India was normal for Serena Bracebridge-Rhode until the Beaudevilles came to offer Marsdengunj a place on the Indian Map by proposing to make it a major maintenance hub for the Indian Railways. Serena having a strained relationship with her father Charleston due to his severe alcoholism instantly falls in love with the charming young Beaudeville. The Beaudevilles isolated initially as posh city people slowly merge with the middle-class bunch of the Marsdengunj.
Serena breaks free to become a nurse in London where she is identified to help capture a German spy. The war part comes as an extra baggage and do not blend well with the flow. The story would have been perfect if the war and spy part was not included at all. Out of the 250 pages, 200 pages are dedicated to the Indian characters for whom Harry has no interest. The book makes perfect sense as a melange of short stories but fails as a single novel. Nonetheless, it was gripping and entertaining.
The most part of the story revolves around Marsdengunj and the Anglo-Indian life. The insignificant but interesting characters designed just to explain the culture became a little too much after the initial pages. A great deal of information would be given on a particular incidence and just as we look forward to the story, the characters vanish suddenly without a clue. The heartwarming story of Gertie and Charleston could be put for a better use than just letting it hang in the middle.
The glimpse of Muskoka didn't quite well stand out like Marsdengunj. Muskoka Maharani fails to make an impact, but Marsdengunj Maharani could have!
Don't miss the book for the beauty of the British India
