His brothers-in-law now want to fold the company, but Bahram has convinced them to sell the opium-trading arm to himself. As the years went by, despite no respect or encouragement from his in-laws, his trading business grew while the ship-building business receded. His voyage was very successful and opium trading became his life. Years ago, he managed to convince his father-in-law to loan him some money and a ship with which to ship opium to China. But Bahram was not cut out for ship-building or accounts he is much better suited to speculating and trading. His wife’s family had a successful ship-building business, with British merchants and navy among their clients. Though his family’s wealth eroded, he entered another wealthy family by marriage. Bahram came from a formerly wealthy Parsi family from Bombay, India. Fitcher has a lead on how he may find it – he has in his possession a painting of the flower and hopes he can track down the artist and hence the flower.Īlso headed in the same direction is Seth Bahramji Naurozji Modi. Fitcher is in search of a golden camellia a rare Chinese flower said to cure aging and consumption. In the end it was the Redruth that settled the matter for Paulette – the brig cast a spell that put an end to whatever doubts she may have had about Fitcher’s offer.īut, as Fitcher confesses to Paulette, he has another mission on this journey. His ship is essentially a floating garden and he could use the expertise of another person who knows how to tend to plants. Fitcher offers Paulette another adventure to join him aboard his ship, the Redruth, as he journeys to China. Fitcher’s life story, and how he came into his current line of work, is also incredible. Paulette’s story is extraordinary as we read in Sea of Poppies, she has just managed an escape from British India aboard the Ibis and only arrived on Mauritius a few days ago. But Fitcher isn’t fooled for he knew Pierre Lambert and recognises this ‘man’ as Paulette Lambert, Pierre’s daughter. The man says he is Paul Lambert, nephew of the late French botanist Pierre Lambert.
He catches a young man, tending to some plants. What he finds is a discarded ruin, but perhaps there is an opportunity to pinch some plants from here. In 1838, Frederick ‘Fitcher’ Penrose, an English plant-hunter, sails into in Port Louis, Mauritius and heads straight for the botanical gardens. (Note: Since this novel is the second in a trilogy, this review contains a couple of minor spoilers with regards to the first novel, Sea of Poppies) In some ways, Ghosh even ups his game and puts the reader under his seductive spell.
Like the first novel, it is an absolute treat and for many of the same reasons. River of Smoke is the second part of Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy, following Sea of Poppies.
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