“A Singular Hostage” is Thalassa Ali’s first novel. I have to confess that when I first heard about the book I was a little skeptical. An American woman born into a Boston Brahmin family – what would she know about life in the Indian sub-continent? But as it turned out, I bought the book and stayed up half the night to finish it and am now eagerly awaiting the promised sequel!

The heroine of the book is Mariana, an Englishwoman who goes to India in 1838 to find herself a husband from amongst the army of British people stationed in India. She finds herself in Lord Auckland’s entourage on an extraordinary journey with his two spinster sisters, his entire government, his ten-thousand-man army, several Indian servants, elephants, tents and what have you. The slow journey gives Mariana plenty of time to fall in love with a British officer, learn Urdu and get into trouble several times under the disapproving eyes of Lord Auckland’s sisters.

If this were an ordinary romance novel Mariana would marry the British officer and all would be well. But this is no ordinary romance, Mariana is no ordinary woman and India is no ordinary country. While Lord Auckland is trying to get King Ranjit Singh to sign a treaty so Britain could build a stronghold in Central Asia, Mariana gets very involved with the locals. It is all because of Saboor, a little boy who the king takes a fancy to. Saboor is the grandson of Shaikh Waliullah, a man with unexplained mystical powers. Saboor himself is said to have unnamed powers as proven by the fact that Ranjit Singh feels rejuvenated when the weak little boy is on his shoulder. Saboor’s mother is dead and his father Hasan is distraught at the thought of his son being uncared and unloved for in the king’s citadel amidst the several queens who are jealous of the little boy.

An unexpected turn in the story puts Saboor in Mariana’s care. Besides having to care for the child, she has to make sure that he is not discovered in her tent. With the help of her servant Ditto she manages to bathe and feed the child and bring the pink back to his cheeks. While she is still trying to get her relationship with the British officer back on track, Ranjit Singh asks for her hand in marriage. Mariana knows the signing of the treaty is foremost on Lord Auckland’s mind and she does not want to jeopardize the historical event. To avert the terrible event of being married to the one eyed king, she announces that she is already betrothed to Hasan, the father of Saboor. And against her will she is married to Hasan – a marriage that she and the others from her country consider a nuisance, something to forget, not really a marriage. But is this true – the mehendi on her hands, the ring on her aching nose, the jewelry around her head and the saffron clothes she wears – they surely can’t mean nothing. And what about Hasan – does he consider her his wife? You will have to read the book to find out.

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