Ali Al Al من عند Gulak, العراق من عند Gulak, العراق

Another one of my all-time favorites. I don't know how I stumbled on this book, but its worth the 955 pages (yeah really!). What I liked best about this book is the exploration of the main characters alienation. He is neither British nor Indian, Christian, Muslim or Hindu, he's everything and nothing all at once. Actually I might recommend this book if you liked Life of Pi. Although I would say that this is a much more thorough and interesting tale. The novel takes place in India in the late 1880s, during a series of battles between Afghanistan and India and other various battles for the East India Company. Ashton (also called Ashok) is born to an English professor and a British mother in India. However his parents die of cholera when he is a baby and he is raised Hindu by a woman named Sita. Ashok lives a life in poverty as an attendant for a noble family and also becomes very close to the games keeper who is Muslim and learns their traditions as well. It's only when he is 13 or 14 that he learns that he is English and not Indian. He's sent to British boarding school and finds himself totally alienated. When he is 18 he joins the Corps of Guides and returns to India. Lots of battles and love affairs follow. This is a great book if you like detailed family sagas and historical novels, since I believe the book is couched in actual events.