It is my hope that all authors who undertake the task of writing historical fiction, as Thalassa Ali has done here with A BEGGAR AT THE GATE, recognize the immense responsibility that is theirs in communicating that portion of history of which they have chosen to write.  My personal experience, for example, holds little to nothing in understanding of 19^th century British India (present-day Pakistan), which makes the need for veracity of even greater importance.

In my estimation as reader, A BEGGAR AT THE GATE succeeds in this task.  Not only is the story solid, the cultures of the British people (in the aloofness of their imperialistic zeal) and the indigenous Indians/Punjabis/Afghans are portrayed with great clarity.  There is a clear delineation in thoughts and beliefs, subtle and yet present, making that foreign land quite real in this American’s eyes.

The main character of this treasure chest of cultures is the young English woman, Mariana Givens.  She resides with her Uncle Adrian and Aunt Clair in British Calcutta.  Within her custody, much to the chagrin of the austere Britains , is her two-year-old stepson Saboor, the son of Hassan Ali Khan, son of the Shaikh Waliullah Khan of the Punjab , a sovereign kingdom separating India and Afghanistan .  In the preceding book, A SINGULAR HOSTAGE, Marianna rescued Saboor from the Maharajah Kharrak Singh, who believed the boy held magical healing powers; and who now believes his own son, Prince Nau Nihal Singh, who imprisoned him, is poisoning him to his death.

Mariana’s aunt and uncle, while accommodating to these unusual circumstances for a British woman, wish Mariana to return the child to his father in the Punjabi city of Lahore when the three of them travel through there on their way to Kabul Afghanistan .  She can attain a divorce from Hassan, as their impetuous marriage was never consummated, and freeing her to marry Harry Fitzgerald.  However, political upheaval in the Punjab is at hand.  Prince Sher Singh, popular with the army, is battling Rani Chand Kaur, wife to Maharajah Kharrak Singh and mother to Prince Nau Nihal, for control of the kingdom.  The Sikh Council determined Sher Singh to be rightful heir to the kingdom, but Rani Chand Kaur made her own claim, based upon a grandson not yet born.

An attack from Sher Singh to wrest the throne away from her becomes inevitable.  The two worlds are about to collide.  Mariana, the thread binding the two, is merely along for the ride.  She is unsure what she wants.  She follows the direction of her Uncle Adrian and the British Political Agent, “the Vulture” Russell Clerk, one looking to enhance the inner strife amongst the Punjabi for greater ease in a British takeover of the highly-valued Punjabi land; and yet, Saboor has become a fixture within her heart.  Saboor’s grandfather, Shaikh Waliullah has entranced her with his presence, while his sister, the ever-wise and mysterious Safiya Sultanna, carries an aura of authority about her as powerful as the fertile land of the Punjab Mariana loves. 

And then there is also Britain .  There is Mariana’s sister.  There is her family.  There is the life she grew up within as an Englishwoman she also does not wish to leave behind.  Despite this ambivalence, and the impetuous spirit causing her as many problems as it solves, Mariana does personify the very nature of the “heroine”.  She is the “ordinary person doing extraordinary things”.

I cannot say I ever got the idea that Mariana and Hasan actually “loved” one another, as one, today, would expect from husband and wife.  Their relationship appears more culturally-infused (both Punjabi, which saw Mariana as Saboor’s protector; and British, which called for a separation from the native) than any actual romance.

This may have emerged from the disconnect I felt from the actual story itself.  As an outsider, as unfamiliar with that 1840s terrain as the Britains in Mariana’s caravan were to the Punjab , I was never drawn in and enveloped by the environment and the people.  I retained my status as an outsider, viewing events as they happened from a safe distance, rather than being set on the scene at Mariana’s side.

This much said, A BEGGAR AT THE GATE was a great read.  It carried a strong plot involving an intricate array of interesting characters, with a world unknown to most of us in this country.  And perhaps most importantly, certainly most impressively, is the subtle theme stated in the book’s title.  Safiya Sultanna tells it in a story about a prince given two silver coins to go out and spend.  I know it runs analogous to Mariana’s own story told in A BEGGAR AT THE GATE, but grasping its full meaning would require a second, and perhaps third, read.  Suffice it to say; to give is better than to receive.  Humility trumps pride.  A beggar at the gate can be either yourself seeking entrance or a beggar serving as the gate’s key. The Kingdom’s riches wait on the other side.