This was the real heyday of the fishing fleet, when girls would sail off to see the rock, the grand harbour, the taj by moonlight and find a husband. In the 1970s she was womans editor on the london evening news and in the 1980s she was a regular featurewriter for the evening standard. When the maharajah of patiala eloped with a fishing fleet girl called florrie bryan, she was spurned by both english and indian society and her son was poisoned. In these sparkling pages, she describes the glittering whirlwind of dances, parties, amateur theatricals, picnics, tennis tournaments, cinemas. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. This book is brilliantly researched, and full of delights. For these young women, often away from home for the first time, one thing they could be sure. The book glitters with quotes from the women themselves, but they are. In 1916, my grandmother phyllis went out to india to visit friends on a tea plantation in assam.
And as soon as it arrived at my library branch, i picked it up and read it. For all of indias charms, there was much to endure. Based on extensive firsthand research, drawing on diaries, memoirs and letters, this richly entertaining group biography reveals what they thought of their new lives in england and what england thought of them. From the late 19th century, when the raj was at its height, many of britains best and brightest young men went out to india to work. A fishing fleet girl had to be hardy and uncomplaining. The times the fishing fleet is an entertaining, richly detailed account of a world that vanished overnight in 1947 with independence. Outside of the social season, there was little for a married woman to do. The book is true to its title, the focus stays on the fishing fleet women, with enough context to bring their experiences to life, but it seems strange that a book set in india has so little to say about the millions of indians who were forced to make way and bow and scrape to the english who thought themselves superior to indians in every way. Starting from scratch 1970 making room at the top 1974 a guide to modern manners 1985 1939. But the bulk of her material is from the late 19th.
This book was published on 12 july 2012 and jumped straight to no 1 in amazons mover and shakers, to no 4 in the nonfiction. You had american women going on husband expeditions in the uk. Based on annes book, a channel 4 documentary snowdon and margaret. It is arranged in topics and the same people crop up in different sections by which time you have forgotten what you have already read about them as there are so many. She had lost a brother and a fiance in the first world war. It is arranged in topics and the same people crop up in different sections by which time you have forgotten what you have already read. The 18thcentury british merchant adventurers who came to seek their fortunes in the east were initially content to take native wives, who were treated as. Inside a royal marriage, was broadcast on wednesday 25th june 2008 at 9pm. I received the fishing fleet, husband hunting in the raj as a christmas gift thank you jo. The life of edith, marchioness of londonderry 1992 the viceroys daughters. In researching her book she was allowed access to the private letters, diaries, journals.