Poppy Sea by Amitav Ghosh is the first book in an epoch-making trilogy about sea adventures in the nineteenth century. The intricate plot of The Sea of Poppies, full of unexpected twists and turns, unfolds in the luxurious scenery of colonial India just on the eve of the opium wars: poppy villages, dwellings of the raja, the estates of the British colonialists, opium factories, the closed world of a sea vessel. In the center of the intricately woven large-scale saga is the Ibis sailing ship, a former slave ship on which fate brings together a motley heap of amazingly different characters. A young French orphan | bankrupt Indian raja | an Indian widow who escaped from the rite of burning | apologist for a new religion| an American sailor who, unexpectedly for himself, became the captain's assistant ... The Ibis is supposed to take them from India to unknown Mauritius, and the listener will be carried away by an exciting story full of nobility and betrayal, dangers and trials, determination and freedom.
Press about the book:
“Gosh’s novel is not an anti-colonial pretentious manifesto, not a didactic panorama of a picture of the life of the colony, it is full of passion stories of men and women of all races and castes who have to leave the past forever and embark on the unknown future on a fragile ship. It is, above all, a book that touches the soul.”
The Times
The Poppy Sea is a real triumph both as a novel of ideas and as a frisky adventure story. This book is that rare bird yet: a historical novel filled to capacity with contemporary relevance and melodramatic twists.”
Boston Phoenix
Attention! The phonogram contains obscene language
Copyright
© Amitav Ghosh, 2008
© Alexander Safronov, translation, 2010, 2021
© Andrey Bondarenko , design, 2021
© Phantom Press Publishing House LLC, edition, 2021
Recorded by VIMBO Audio Publishing
© ℗ Vimbo LLC, 2021
Producers: Vadim Bukh, Mikhail Litvakov
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Listen to an excerpt
09/29/2025
Маковое море — захватывающее путешествие
Книга Амитава Гоша «Маковое море» погружает читателя в атмосферу колониальной Индии и морских приключений девятнадцатого века. Сюжет, полный неожиданных поворотов, увлекает с первых страниц. Гош мастерски описывает жизнь различных персонажей, каждый из которых имеет свою уникальную историю и мотивацию. Особенно впечатляет, как автор показывает столкновение культур и судеб на фоне исторических событий, таких как опиумные войны. Парусник Ибис становится символом надежды и перемен для героев, которые стремятся к свободе и лучшей жизни. Однако, несмотря на все плюсы, некоторые моменты кажутся затянутыми, и не все персонажи раскрыты достаточно глубоко. В целом, это великолепный роман, который оставляет след в душе и заставляет задуматься о человеческих судьбах.