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The Faraway Drums
The year is 1911, the place India. The coronation of King George V as Emperor of India is to take place at the Great Durbar in Delhi.
High in the Himalayas Major Clive Farnol, soldier turned political agent, hears rumours of a plot to assassinate the King. Hurrying south, trying to piece together hints of the plot, he finds himself a target for assassination.
Joining a caravan of an exotic mix of characters on their way to the Durbar, he meets Bridie O'Brady, American newspaper-woman and anti-Imperialist. They fall in love, but their different backgrounds and the constant threat of death offer little hope that anything will come of their romance. But Jon Cleary's story is full of surprising twists and turns ...
Under the waning sum of Empire, this is high adventure tinged with sadness for the era that is lost, as imperfect as it was glorious. It is Jon Cleary at his best.
High in the Himalayas Major Clive Farnol, soldier turned political agent, hears rumours of a plot to assassinate the King. Hurrying south, trying to piece together hints of the plot, he finds himself a target for assassination.
Joining a caravan of an exotic mix of characters on their way to the Durbar, he meets Bridie O'Brady, American newspaper-woman and anti-Imperialist. They fall in love, but their different backgrounds and the constant threat of death offer little hope that anything will come of their romance. But Jon Cleary's story is full of surprising twists and turns ...
Under the waning sum of Empire, this is high adventure tinged with sadness for the era that is lost, as imperfect as it was glorious. It is Jon Cleary at his best.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
7 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Jon Cleary
127 books24 followersAustralian popular novelist, a natural storyteller, whose career as a writer extended over 60 years. Jon Cleary's books have sold some 8 million copies. Often the stories are set in exotic locations all over the world or in some interesting historical scene of the 20th century, such as the Nazi Berlin of 1936. Cleary also wrote perhaps the longest running homicide detective series of Australia. Its sympathetic protagonist, Inspector Scobie Malone, was introduced in The High Commissioner (1966). Degrees of Connection, published in 2003, was Scobie's 20th appearance. Although Cleary's books can be read as efficiently plotted entertainment, he occasionally touched psychological, social, and moral dilemmas inside the frame of high adventure.
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 18, 2014
Faraway Drums Audiobook – India and the Empire 1911
Original on ebooknews.ca January 17th, 2014
Printed books that may be getting dusty on the shelf, get new life when they are converted to ebooks and audiobooks. Indeed Blackstone Audio has breathed new vibrancy into Jon Cleary’s 1981 historical novel The Faraway Drums, with a new audiobook version read by Michael Healy. Running at about 10 hours the listener will enjoy being transported to India 1911 into the midst of a plot to murder King George V, as he is being crowned Emperor of India. The book is a spy intrigue /historical novel that pulls the reader in quickly and provides escapism into India at the height of British colonialism.
We follow the lead character Clive Farnsworth, a British army and intelligence officer, through rural India to Delhi where the 1911 Durbar (coronation) is to take place. Throughout the novel the reader experiences the growing political resistance by the Indian princes and their desire to rid themselves of the British overrule. Of interest is the description of the untouchables class system, the British army’s lifestyle in India, the rail system, the development of Delhi and the Durbar itself.
Farnsworth meets up with Bridie O’Brady a young American reporter and a romance develops. Embedded in the main narrative are Bridie’s recollections of her time in India and her developing relationship with Farnsworth from the perspective of the 1960’s. The writers device of looking back in times at the events of 1911, allows for the deeper understanding of the title.
Bridie is a rather a plucky character, perhaps a young Rosalind Russell and Farnsworth is a man’s man a Sean Connery sort, from his early James Bond era. The fact that I cast this novel tells you how deeply I was listening and envisioning the characters.
The story is crucial in its perspective of time and place. It is three years before the start of WWI and although Indian independence is still 36 years off [1947] , the story steeps the reader in the culture and historical perspective of both the Indian and British nations.
The reader Michael Healy has a measured voice, and reads the book to the listener, rather than acts it out. This works well and I would listen to another audiobook by the same narrator.
4 stars
Original on ebooknews.ca January 17th, 2014
Printed books that may be getting dusty on the shelf, get new life when they are converted to ebooks and audiobooks. Indeed Blackstone Audio has breathed new vibrancy into Jon Cleary’s 1981 historical novel The Faraway Drums, with a new audiobook version read by Michael Healy. Running at about 10 hours the listener will enjoy being transported to India 1911 into the midst of a plot to murder King George V, as he is being crowned Emperor of India. The book is a spy intrigue /historical novel that pulls the reader in quickly and provides escapism into India at the height of British colonialism.
We follow the lead character Clive Farnsworth, a British army and intelligence officer, through rural India to Delhi where the 1911 Durbar (coronation) is to take place. Throughout the novel the reader experiences the growing political resistance by the Indian princes and their desire to rid themselves of the British overrule. Of interest is the description of the untouchables class system, the British army’s lifestyle in India, the rail system, the development of Delhi and the Durbar itself.
Farnsworth meets up with Bridie O’Brady a young American reporter and a romance develops. Embedded in the main narrative are Bridie’s recollections of her time in India and her developing relationship with Farnsworth from the perspective of the 1960’s. The writers device of looking back in times at the events of 1911, allows for the deeper understanding of the title.
Bridie is a rather a plucky character, perhaps a young Rosalind Russell and Farnsworth is a man’s man a Sean Connery sort, from his early James Bond era. The fact that I cast this novel tells you how deeply I was listening and envisioning the characters.
The story is crucial in its perspective of time and place. It is three years before the start of WWI and although Indian independence is still 36 years off [1947] , the story steeps the reader in the culture and historical perspective of both the Indian and British nations.
The reader Michael Healy has a measured voice, and reads the book to the listener, rather than acts it out. This works well and I would listen to another audiobook by the same narrator.
4 stars
June 4, 2014
India 1911, King George V is about to be crowned Emperor of India at a Great Durbar in Delhi. But Major Clive Farnol, a one-time soldier turned political agent, hears of a plot to assassinate the King and the book follows his attempts to find out who the would-be assassin is and prevent the act from happening.
Farnol joins an eclectic cast of characters in a caravan en route to the Great Durbar and he meets up with an American newspaper woman, Bridie O'Brady, whose diary entries of events happening along the route form part of the book. Farnol falls in love with her, and vice-versa, so in the end, after the Great Durbar, they marry and settle in America.
There are plenty of other suspicious characters within the caravan and, with various attempts on his life, Farnol faces great danger. Despite being wounded he overcomes it all and eventually uncovers the plot to kill the King and unmasks the would-be murderer so the coronation goes ahead without problem.
Jon Cleary presents us with an enjoyable tale of high adventure with plenty of action to keep the reader engrossed.
Farnol joins an eclectic cast of characters in a caravan en route to the Great Durbar and he meets up with an American newspaper woman, Bridie O'Brady, whose diary entries of events happening along the route form part of the book. Farnol falls in love with her, and vice-versa, so in the end, after the Great Durbar, they marry and settle in America.
There are plenty of other suspicious characters within the caravan and, with various attempts on his life, Farnol faces great danger. Despite being wounded he overcomes it all and eventually uncovers the plot to kill the King and unmasks the would-be murderer so the coronation goes ahead without problem.
Jon Cleary presents us with an enjoyable tale of high adventure with plenty of action to keep the reader engrossed.
April 11, 2020
Another Jon Cleary book that absolutely should be an miniseries for AMC or TNT. Simply wonderful story telling.
December 27, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. The story is one outside of my normal selection, set in India as it is. The book is also shorter but the story is rich with detail. I like to read about the reality behind the fiction I read, and learning a little about the caste system made for interesting additional reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews