The Spell of the Flying Foxes

Sylvia Dyer

Penguin Books India,

264 pages, R299

In 1845, an Englishman, Alfred Augustus Tripe, was drawn to the Champaran region of north Bihar, fascinated by the prospect of farming indigo. He acquired a large tract of rich, fertile land, married an Indian lady of means and reaped prosperity. His estate flourished till the great Bihar earthquake of 1934. Tripe’s great-granddaughter recaptures what now seems a fairy-tale world of picturesque beauty, peopled by unique and unforgettable characters.