THE TRAITOR'S BARGAIN

In this debut historical novel, the residents of an 18th-century Indian province fight a British company to protect their domestic commodities.

Bengal is India’s richest province in 1756 and the place for highly sought-after materials like silks and muslin. It attracts traders from around the world and such concerns as the British East India Company. But trouble begins with Bengal’s “shifting political landscape.” The province’s beloved ruler (or Nawab), Alivardi Khan, dies, and his grandson, Siraj ud-Daulah, is his heir apparent. Officials belonging to the Nawab’s court fear Siraj is too unpredictable while the leaders of the East India Company worry he’s aligned with their French trading rivals. Sure enough, newly minted Nawab Siraj sets his sights on Fort William, the company’s principal settlement in Bengal, which the British had begun fortifying even before Alivardi’s death. Despite this, Siraj’s army seizes the fort. Meanwhile, British warships had recently docked in India to confront French forces. But Robert Clive, governor of another British fort in India, uses that extra muscle to retake Fort William. He has Bengali allies, too, including Mir Jafar, a senior commander of the Bengal army who’s upset he was passed over as Calcutta’s governor, and Mehtab Rai, a financier whom Siraj senselessly humiliated not long ago. Bengali officials who help the other side may soon regret their decision, as the British, if they gain the upper hand, will be in a perfect position to exert their dominance in India—gradually taking away the country’s commodities as well as its identity.

In this tale, Roy smoothly mingles historical figures with fictional characters. For example, real-life Alivardi Khan and Siraj ud-Daulah are just as integral to the story as the fictional nobleman Javed Hussain and his assertive son, Sarfaraz. The spotlight actually hits quite a few well-developed characters, such that it’s truly shocking when someone dies or finds himself arrested for treason. At the same time, there’s a balanced mix of conflicts (“The gates of the fort groaned under the relentless blows of a battering ram, wood splintering with each strike”) and characters’ discussions of events that either have happened or most assuredly will. Readers unfamiliar with the history of Bengal will have much to take in, from India’s culture and local foods to the country’s political climate. But the author also dives deep into the story’s cast, as some individuals prove tirelessly greedy and others ultimately lament the choices they’ve made. One remorseful man even has an enlightening conversation with his reflection in a mirror and, later, an elaborate, ominous dream. Despite the book’s relatively short length, it scrupulously covers several years in the mid-1700s and wisely keeps the action in Bengal (regardless of where each character hails from). Roy’s lyrical prose makes reading this novel a breeze: “Reclining on a pile of silk cushions, his fingers trembled as he cradled the slender pipe…Outside, the faint sounds of the Nawab’s camp filtered through the tent—soldiers’ murmurs, the occasional neigh of restless horses, and the distant beat of war drums meant to rally courage.”

An enthralling story of nationalism filled with historical touches and lush details.