Burmese Days

Colonial politics in Kyauktada India in the 1920s come to a head when the European Club previously for whites only is ordered to elect one token native member. The deeply racist members do their best to manipulate the situation resulting in the loss not only of reputations but of lives. Amid this cynical setting timber merchant James Flory a Brit with a genuine appreciation for the native people and culture stands as a bridge between the warring factions. But he has trouble acting on his feelings and the significance of his vote both social and political weighs on him. When Elizabeth Lackersteen arrives - blonde eligible and anti-intellectual - Flory finds himself the hapless suitor. Orwell alternates between grand-scale political intrigue and nuanced social interaction mining his own Colonial Indian heritage to create a monument of historical fiction. George Orwell (19031950) the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist essayist and critic. He was born in India and educated at Eton. After service with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma he returned to Europe to earn his living by writing and became notable for his simplicity of style and his journalistic or documentary approach to fiction.