On the shelf

A Far Horizon
By Meira Chand
Penguin India, price: Rs 295

Set in 18th century Calcutta, the novel is constructed around the Black Hole incident at Fort Williams. Siraj Uddaulah8217;s army is marching from Murshidabad and the residents of the Black Town and White Town have been thrown together in uncomfortable proximity. Meanwhile, a young Eurasian girl is possessed by Kali and becomes a messiah of sorts for the panic-stricken people. The novel moves at a languorous pace, almost mimicking the weather. If the coloniser evokes fear in his subjects, he always lives in constant terror of them. Power comes with a price 8212; or so the white folks in Calcutta realise. What divides history and fiction? Chand plays with both and throws up a surprise, if somewhat simplistic, ending.