THE LAST ARMENIAN

by Francis Rolt ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 1988

A wonderfully atmospheric and moving first novel, first published in England, about a star-crossed love affair between a Bengali woman and a romantic Englishman. The narrator, Charles, is an itinerant young Englishman who has arrived in Chitta-gong, the ancient capital city of Bangladesh, to teach at the university there. Shunning the xenophobic British population, he lives in ""native"" quarters and eventually meets the lovely Shiuli, a lawyer trained in London who has returned to try to fight the grinding poverty of her homeland. Shiuli is the adopted daughter of Joseph Katchyan, who is literally the last member of the once-thriving Armenian community in Bangladesh. Charles and Shiuli begin a passionate affair marred from the start by violent Bengali prejudice against Charles--because he's English--and Shiuli--because she's an untraditional, liberal woman. But the story takes on a real aura of danger when her father Joseph is killed helping a guerrilla group fight against the government. Questioned and warned repeatedly by the sinister Major Rahman, Charles flees to Nepal, but Shiuli stays on to battle the repressive regime. By the time Charles guilitily returns, she has disappeared. . . With more than a touch of The Year of Living Dangerously, a suspenseful, rich-in-setting debut, rendered with great color and feeling.

Pub Date: May 3, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION