"The Siege of Krishnapur" by J.G. Farrell

"The Siege of Krishnapur" by J. G. Farrell -- winner of the 1973 Booker Prize -- is the first of four new "slow readalongs" being led by Simon Haisell at Footnotes and Tangents in 2025 -- all of them books beloved by the late great British author Hilary Mantel.  You may remember that I read Mantel's three books about Thomas Cromwell (as well as "War & Peace" by Leo Tolstoy) with F&T last year, and enjoyed the experience hugely! 

(Simon is repeating those readalongs from last year for paid subscribers too.  I regretfully decided I needed to focus my reading attention elsewhere this year, vs doing a re-read(s) with the group -- but I could not pass up the opportunity to explore some new (shorter! lol)  books under his guidance!)  

It's 1857 and, mysteriously, stacks of chapatis (a type of Indian flatbread) have been showing up in British communities all over India -- including on the desk of "The Collector," who oversees the isolated outpost at Krishnapur.  The Collector feels it's a sure sign that trouble is brewing, and rumours of strife begin to filter in from other British settlements -- of sepoys (Indian soldiers) in mutiny against their British overlords.  But the members of the colonial community remain confident of their military, social and moral superiority -- at least, until the siege begins...  

"The Siege of Krishnapur" is based on the true story of what happened in the city of Lucknow in 1857.  I knew some basic stuff about Britain's history in India, but aside from watching "The Jewel in the Crown" and reading the first book in the series it was based on (good grief, I just realized that was 40!! years ago now!!), I don't think I'd read any (certainly not many) books about it. I wasn't sure I was going to like this one -- but it didn't take me long to realize how wrong I'd been. As usual, Simon's weekly summary posts, including interesting "footnotes and tangents" of supplemental material, along with comments from the other readers, helped me to better understand and appreciate what we'd been reading. (The book also turned out to be funnier than the premise would suggest! -- notwithstanding the seriousness of the events it portrays and the themes it explores.)  

"The Siege of Krishnapur" is one of three volumes examining the decline of the British Empire. The other two include "Troubles," about the Easter 1916 rebellion in Ireland, and "The Singapore Grip," which takes place just before World War II.  They have been added to my reading list!  

3.5 stars on StoryGraph, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads.   

Our next F&T slow read will be "A Place of Greater Safety" (about the French Revolution) by Hilary Mantel, beginning May 5th and running for 20 weeks through the summer and early fall.   

This was Book #8 read to date in 2025 (and Book #1 finished in March), bringing me to 18% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) on track to meet my goal.  :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2025 tagged as "2025 books."