THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN

In the last gasp of a post-colonial nation, its sultan reflects on the tragedies and horrors of his rule.

On a rainy night in 1947, the Irani Palace of the province of Sipheristan hosts a grand celebration, complete with drinks, dancing, and many beautiful contenders for the heart of its crown prince. His father, the Sultan Aslan, sits aside from the celebration, reflecting on the years of his rule and his service to both the province and the British. The colonial support that has allowed Sipheristan to expand and protect itself is withdrawing, bordering nations seek to absorb it, and America and the Soviet Union eye its natural resources. Furthermore, the Paradise Valley, as travelers have long called the area, hosts a diverse population of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus, their differences leading to increased sectarian violence. Mounting debt, challenges from charismatic yet cruel figures like Genghis Rasul, renewed Islamic conservatism, and family drama, such as that caused by the Sultan’s late, mentally unstable queen, have eroded trust and power. The rebels are at the door, quite literally, and Aslan looks back on his losses: his love affair with Swiss pilot Eva Piazinni, his 13-year-old daughter’s suicide and his son’s death fighting the Japanese, the murder and torture he inflicted on family, the political and socio-economic maneuvering with corrupt British leaders—all for his home. Chowdhury’s novel, well researched and well reasoned, crafts a fictitious country with all the political intrigue of any post-colonial nation after World War II. The impacts of droughts, insurgencies, love affairs, and scintillating land reforms are exactingly described. Sipheristan itself exudes culture, enveloping the reader in elaborate dances, architecture, and folklore, like the cursed Noor diamond. Yet for all this detail, even at its most engrossing the book tends to be fairly dry, written more like a history book than the epic novel its large cast and sweeping narrative promise. The intricacies of any economic or political decision are painstakingly broken down, but cast conflicts, such as the death of the crown prince’s mother and its effect on him or Aslan’s duality as a sympathetic leader, despite his willingness to torture children, go largely unexplored.

A thickly detailed political thriller that skimps on character development.