Sea of poppies

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2008. At the heart of this epic saga is an old slaving-ship. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean, its crew a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts. The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the exotic backstreets of China. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, which makes SEA OF POPPIES so breathtakingly alive - a masterpiece from one of the world's finest novelists.