How can Anila Tandy, left to fend for herself after her mother's death, dare to apply for a job that is clearly not meant for a woman? But somehow the "Bird Girl of Calcutta," art supplies in hand, finds herself on an eye-opening journey up the Ganges, apprenticed to a gentleman scientist. As the lush landscape slips by, Anila dives into her past a past where her beautiful Bengali mother still tells stories and her Irish father's mysterious disappearance lingers. Gorgeously written and rich with atmosphere, Mary Finn's debut novel tells the story of a determined young artist who must make her way in the dangerous world of late-eighteenth-century India.
"Finn can really write. The plot might be a little contrived, particularly the ending .... but every page flows with a grace of language unusual in a debut novelist .... A remarkable book ... a writer to watch." - The Guardian (UK).
"Pulsing with the sights and sounds of place and period, a confident, polished work it is, suitable not just for the teenage market, but adults too." - Irish Independent.
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