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The Savage Family Chronicles #7
Bhowani Junction
As conflicts rage between British soldiers and Indian nationalists, a young Anglo-Indian woman strives to clarify her own ethnic identity
450 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1954
46 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
John Masters
150 books52 followersMasters was the son of a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the Indian Army. He was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. On graduating from Sandhurst in 1933, he was seconded to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) for a year before applying to serve with the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. He saw service on the North-West Frontier with the 2nd battalion of the regiment, and was rapidly given a variety of appointments within the battalion and the regimental depot, becoming the Adjutant of the 2nd battalion in early 1939.
During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. They were later to marry. This caused a small scandal at the time.
After Staff College he first served as Brigade Major in 114th Indian Infantry Brigade before being "poached" by "Joe" Lentaigne, another officer from 4th Gurkhas, to be Brigade Major in 111th Indian Infantry Brigade, a Chindit formation. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. On the death of General Orde Wingate on 24 April, Lentaigne became the Chindits' overall commander and Masters commanded the main body of 111 Brigade.
In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.
After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.
In later life, Masters and his wife Barbara moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He died in 1983 from complications following heart surgery. His family and friends scattered his ashes from an aeroplane over the mountain trails he loved to hike. General Sir Michael Rose, the former UN commander in Bosnia, is a stepson of Masters.
During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. They were later to marry. This caused a small scandal at the time.
After Staff College he first served as Brigade Major in 114th Indian Infantry Brigade before being "poached" by "Joe" Lentaigne, another officer from 4th Gurkhas, to be Brigade Major in 111th Indian Infantry Brigade, a Chindit formation. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. On the death of General Orde Wingate on 24 April, Lentaigne became the Chindits' overall commander and Masters commanded the main body of 111 Brigade.
In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.
After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.
In later life, Masters and his wife Barbara moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He died in 1983 from complications following heart surgery. His family and friends scattered his ashes from an aeroplane over the mountain trails he loved to hike. General Sir Michael Rose, the former UN commander in Bosnia, is a stepson of Masters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
July 29, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It is historical fiction that gives you a feel for a past time and place. It teaches and at the same time entertains. The characters seemed very real to me.
The book looks at how Anglo-Indians perceived their situation when India got independence from Britain. The term Anglo-Indian refers to people with mixed Indian and British ancestry. It can also refer to people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent. Anglo-Indians may also be called Eurasians. Many Anglo-Indians found employment in the Indian railway system. In this story the setting is the fictional town of Bhowani Junction, a city on the Delhi-Dakar rail line. The year is 1946, one year before Indian independence. Several of the characters are railway personnel and the railway itself plays a vital role in the story. One’s social standing is all important; the ruling British looked down on the Indians and Anglo-Indians, who looked down on the Indians, who were themselves split into different strata. With independence and departure of the Brits, what would be the status of the remaining Anglo-Indians? Should they, could they meld into the Indian masses, or should they leave? In Britain how would they be looked upon? Each of them had to decide whether to stay or to leave and if so where to go.
It is interesting to note that the author, John Masters (1914-1983), was born in India and was a British officer in the Indian army before he became an author. For generations, his family had been in the Indian army. He claimed, and this was later substantiated, that his own blood line did contain Indian blood. Wiki says: " In 1962 Masters learned what he had apparently long suspected, that he did indeed have a distant Indian ancestor." He insisted that through his books he wanted to capture reality, that his characters did not necessarily represent his own views but rather how the situation was. In the book one observes how the British look down on the Indians and Anglo-Indians. In turn, Anglo-Indians saw Indians as their inferiors. OK, it shouldn’t have been that way, but that’s how it was! It is interesting to note that the author chose to leave India in 1946, the year before independence was granted. He chose to move to the US, not Britain.
It shows in the book that the author knows what he is writing about. He perceptively captures the dilemma facing Anglo-Indians. He captures the feel of the time, the milieu and both the conflicts between and the characteristics of the different political and religious subgroups. The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny and Gandhi, both his stand on non-violence and role as leader of the Congress Party are referred to. Masters captures the feel of the different Indian communities, and this is reflected in the dialogs. Each character comes to have a distinct identity, an individual who feels genuine and real; what each says and does and feels blends perfectly. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Victoria is 28, Anglo-Indian and the daughter of a railway man. She is very attractive. She becomes a WAC officer working in intelligence for the British Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Savage, commander of the First Battalion Thirteenth Gurkha Rifles. She has grown up alongside Patrick Taylor, also a railway man and also Anglo-Indian. He considers Victoria his girlfriend, but there is Ranjit Kasel, a Sikh and a member of the Congress Party who hopes to marry her too! Who will she choose - a Brit, an Anglo-Indian, an Indian or none of them? Who does she love and how does she see her future? It is the way in which the three men and Victoria are drawn that makes the book so marvelous. I loved all of them. Each very different and each wonderfully special in their own way. Each felt genuine and real.
There is humor. The Brigadier, a supporting character, will surely make you laugh.
The plot is exciting. Who is K.P. Roy and what terrorist action is he planning? Does he have communist affiliations? Can he be caught? How and by whom? There is a leopard hunt and a murder and accidents that lead to death.
So maybe you think trains and railways are just boring stuff. Not here! We speed through a tunnel on the foot-plate in the cab of a steam locomotive. It is sizzling hot and we hear the chug of the engine and feel the vibration and smother in the choking dust. The experience grabs you.
I highly recommend this book. You get great character portrayal, humor and a fast-paced adventure story. You come to understand how it felt to be Anglo-Indian in India in 1946. You get food for thought; you get into another person’s shoes. I enjoyed the author’s depiction of the physical attraction between lovers. How often do you get all that?
So why not five stars? If you were to ask me to say quickly how I felt about the book, I’d say I really liked it. So it has to have four stars. I’d have to say that the resolution of the adventure story is on the fanciful side and Victoria’s inner strength doesn’t properly match up with her final choice of men, even if the choice she makes is the best for this book!
The audiobook is narrated by three – Jill Tanner for Victoria’s chapters, Nell Hunt for Patrick Taylor’s and Patrick Tull for Colonel Rodney Savage. Each one tells their portion as a first-person narrative. We are not given repeated versions of the same events, and the story does move forward chronologically. All three narrators wonderfully captured the essence of their respective character. The narration was marvelous; it could not have been better. The train episode is told with a flair. Both the British and the Anglo-Indian dialects were perfect. You hear every word and the pauses are properly placed. I seriously think that if you possibly can you should listen to the audiobook rather than read the paper book, the narration is that good! I believe the characters become more real as you hear them talk.
To get another perspective, I thought I would soon pick up Staying On by Paul Scott. He’s the well-known author of the Raj Quartet that begins with The Jewel in the Crown and which I gave three stars. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire is a great book if you are looking for non-fiction.
The book looks at how Anglo-Indians perceived their situation when India got independence from Britain. The term Anglo-Indian refers to people with mixed Indian and British ancestry. It can also refer to people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent. Anglo-Indians may also be called Eurasians. Many Anglo-Indians found employment in the Indian railway system. In this story the setting is the fictional town of Bhowani Junction, a city on the Delhi-Dakar rail line. The year is 1946, one year before Indian independence. Several of the characters are railway personnel and the railway itself plays a vital role in the story. One’s social standing is all important; the ruling British looked down on the Indians and Anglo-Indians, who looked down on the Indians, who were themselves split into different strata. With independence and departure of the Brits, what would be the status of the remaining Anglo-Indians? Should they, could they meld into the Indian masses, or should they leave? In Britain how would they be looked upon? Each of them had to decide whether to stay or to leave and if so where to go.
It is interesting to note that the author, John Masters (1914-1983), was born in India and was a British officer in the Indian army before he became an author. For generations, his family had been in the Indian army. He claimed, and this was later substantiated, that his own blood line did contain Indian blood. Wiki says: " In 1962 Masters learned what he had apparently long suspected, that he did indeed have a distant Indian ancestor." He insisted that through his books he wanted to capture reality, that his characters did not necessarily represent his own views but rather how the situation was. In the book one observes how the British look down on the Indians and Anglo-Indians. In turn, Anglo-Indians saw Indians as their inferiors. OK, it shouldn’t have been that way, but that’s how it was! It is interesting to note that the author chose to leave India in 1946, the year before independence was granted. He chose to move to the US, not Britain.
It shows in the book that the author knows what he is writing about. He perceptively captures the dilemma facing Anglo-Indians. He captures the feel of the time, the milieu and both the conflicts between and the characteristics of the different political and religious subgroups. The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny and Gandhi, both his stand on non-violence and role as leader of the Congress Party are referred to. Masters captures the feel of the different Indian communities, and this is reflected in the dialogs. Each character comes to have a distinct identity, an individual who feels genuine and real; what each says and does and feels blends perfectly. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Victoria is 28, Anglo-Indian and the daughter of a railway man. She is very attractive. She becomes a WAC officer working in intelligence for the British Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Savage, commander of the First Battalion Thirteenth Gurkha Rifles. She has grown up alongside Patrick Taylor, also a railway man and also Anglo-Indian. He considers Victoria his girlfriend, but there is Ranjit Kasel, a Sikh and a member of the Congress Party who hopes to marry her too! Who will she choose - a Brit, an Anglo-Indian, an Indian or none of them? Who does she love and how does she see her future? It is the way in which the three men and Victoria are drawn that makes the book so marvelous. I loved all of them. Each very different and each wonderfully special in their own way. Each felt genuine and real.
There is humor. The Brigadier, a supporting character, will surely make you laugh.
The plot is exciting. Who is K.P. Roy and what terrorist action is he planning? Does he have communist affiliations? Can he be caught? How and by whom? There is a leopard hunt and a murder and accidents that lead to death.
So maybe you think trains and railways are just boring stuff. Not here! We speed through a tunnel on the foot-plate in the cab of a steam locomotive. It is sizzling hot and we hear the chug of the engine and feel the vibration and smother in the choking dust. The experience grabs you.
I highly recommend this book. You get great character portrayal, humor and a fast-paced adventure story. You come to understand how it felt to be Anglo-Indian in India in 1946. You get food for thought; you get into another person’s shoes. I enjoyed the author’s depiction of the physical attraction between lovers. How often do you get all that?
So why not five stars? If you were to ask me to say quickly how I felt about the book, I’d say I really liked it. So it has to have four stars. I’d have to say that the resolution of the adventure story is on the fanciful side and Victoria’s inner strength doesn’t properly match up with her final choice of men, even if the choice she makes is the best for this book!
The audiobook is narrated by three – Jill Tanner for Victoria’s chapters, Nell Hunt for Patrick Taylor’s and Patrick Tull for Colonel Rodney Savage. Each one tells their portion as a first-person narrative. We are not given repeated versions of the same events, and the story does move forward chronologically. All three narrators wonderfully captured the essence of their respective character. The narration was marvelous; it could not have been better. The train episode is told with a flair. Both the British and the Anglo-Indian dialects were perfect. You hear every word and the pauses are properly placed. I seriously think that if you possibly can you should listen to the audiobook rather than read the paper book, the narration is that good! I believe the characters become more real as you hear them talk.
To get another perspective, I thought I would soon pick up Staying On by Paul Scott. He’s the well-known author of the Raj Quartet that begins with The Jewel in the Crown and which I gave three stars. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire is a great book if you are looking for non-fiction.
March 7, 2013
BHOWANI JUNCTION, John Masters
There are some 3 million books available to read. More and more are coming out each day. Publishers focus is on their current crop of books; the old ones are left to die in the wilderness. Not because the old books are inferior, many are better — but because publishers can only promote a limited number of books.
These old books, I call “lost gems”. There are many wonderful, interesting, absorbing novels that have slipped off the radar. One of them is BHOWANI JUNCTION. Perhaps the name was just too difficult to pronounce, but it never seemed to receive the attention it deserved.
John Masters was born in Calcutta, India. The fifth generation of his family to have served in India. After being educated in England he returned to India in 1934 and joined the Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles, then serving on the North-West Frontier.
The partition of India in 1947 resulted in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire and the end of the British control. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan. This is the background to the novel.
The story is related first-hand in three separate narratives by the main figures: Patrick Taylor, Victoria Jones, and Rodney Savage. It is through their eyes that we see some of the personal and social problems of modern India.
It is not only the physical aspects of the story that make it interesting. The use of multiple first-person accounts gives the novel the ability to shock the reader. Each section presents their side of the story, which looks astoundingly different from the previous viewpoint. It is like reading Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet, the panels sliding effortlessly aside to present a totally different view of events, characters, and emotions.
Each character, tells their story so convincingly that we do not suspect that there could be a different side to the events we are witnessing. Not until the end, when we start to know Patrick Taylor's idiosyncrasies.
This is a story rich with interesting characters, beautifully written, with a background set in a period of revolution.
www.what2readnext.com/blog
There are some 3 million books available to read. More and more are coming out each day. Publishers focus is on their current crop of books; the old ones are left to die in the wilderness. Not because the old books are inferior, many are better — but because publishers can only promote a limited number of books.
These old books, I call “lost gems”. There are many wonderful, interesting, absorbing novels that have slipped off the radar. One of them is BHOWANI JUNCTION. Perhaps the name was just too difficult to pronounce, but it never seemed to receive the attention it deserved.
John Masters was born in Calcutta, India. The fifth generation of his family to have served in India. After being educated in England he returned to India in 1934 and joined the Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles, then serving on the North-West Frontier.
The partition of India in 1947 resulted in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire and the end of the British control. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan. This is the background to the novel.
The story is related first-hand in three separate narratives by the main figures: Patrick Taylor, Victoria Jones, and Rodney Savage. It is through their eyes that we see some of the personal and social problems of modern India.
It is not only the physical aspects of the story that make it interesting. The use of multiple first-person accounts gives the novel the ability to shock the reader. Each section presents their side of the story, which looks astoundingly different from the previous viewpoint. It is like reading Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet, the panels sliding effortlessly aside to present a totally different view of events, characters, and emotions.
Each character, tells their story so convincingly that we do not suspect that there could be a different side to the events we are witnessing. Not until the end, when we start to know Patrick Taylor's idiosyncrasies.
This is a story rich with interesting characters, beautifully written, with a background set in a period of revolution.
www.what2readnext.com/blog
March 1, 2018
Another well-crafted novel from John Masters about the end of the British Raj, and one woman who is torn between three identities: Anglo-Indian, Indian, or "English".
The story is told from the perspectives of three different narrators Victoria Jones (Anglo-Indian Army officer, on terminal leave), Patrick Taylor (Anglo-Indian Railway Traffic Officer) and Col. Rodney Savage (13th Gurkha Rifles). While the story is primarily about Jones' battle to define herself, the parallel plot concerns internal security operations conducted by Savage and the search for an Indian Communist provocateur, KP Roy. Masters was fascinated with trains, and the Delhi Deccan Railway (and the Anglo-Indian culture that surrounded it) is also central to the plot and story.
Masters indirectly sheds light on the major theme of identity in this novel, later in his 1971 memoir "Pilgrim Son", where he describes his feelings on having to quit India in 1947 with some torment. After Independence he saw no place for himself in India (where his family had been since the 18th century) or England, and eventually he settled in America. This struggle is echoed by each of the primary characters.
Again, Masters is a bit paternalistic and dismissive of the Indian passion for independence. He seems to grudgingly accept Anglo-Indians (this may not be fair, and I would like to see someone else's perspective on this) and saves his deepest respect for the Gurkhas, Sikhs, and the Indians who allied themselves with the British.
Very well written, and exciting to the end.
The story is told from the perspectives of three different narrators Victoria Jones (Anglo-Indian Army officer, on terminal leave), Patrick Taylor (Anglo-Indian Railway Traffic Officer) and Col. Rodney Savage (13th Gurkha Rifles). While the story is primarily about Jones' battle to define herself, the parallel plot concerns internal security operations conducted by Savage and the search for an Indian Communist provocateur, KP Roy. Masters was fascinated with trains, and the Delhi Deccan Railway (and the Anglo-Indian culture that surrounded it) is also central to the plot and story.
Masters indirectly sheds light on the major theme of identity in this novel, later in his 1971 memoir "Pilgrim Son", where he describes his feelings on having to quit India in 1947 with some torment. After Independence he saw no place for himself in India (where his family had been since the 18th century) or England, and eventually he settled in America. This struggle is echoed by each of the primary characters.
Again, Masters is a bit paternalistic and dismissive of the Indian passion for independence. He seems to grudgingly accept Anglo-Indians (this may not be fair, and I would like to see someone else's perspective on this) and saves his deepest respect for the Gurkhas, Sikhs, and the Indians who allied themselves with the British.
Very well written, and exciting to the end.
November 13, 2017
I am well aware that often a reader must forgive an author for language or opinions that are offensive when they were written at a time when such things were acceptable.
But can we please shelve this book somewhere in the backroom where they've tossed Birth of a Nation and all the other racist dross? Please.
I actually picked this up because I was curious to read about the experience of Indian independence from the point of view of an Anglo-Indian. But obviously I hadn't done my research because reading this book felt like reading what an Englishman thought an Anglo-Indian ought to think about India and Indians.
Let me be clear though, I am 100% aware that Indians can be incredibly racist to the point of self-hating, particularly when it comes to the divide between the western educated and those who aren't. And I accept that even today, there are those who cannot seem to grasp that although they self-identify with the ruling class, they are in no way accepted as such by the establishment, (ie. Indians for Trump).
But when an author chooses to tell a story from the point of view of a bigoted, sexist, self-deluding fool, he needs to give me SOMETHING to hang on to, anything.
Patrick Taylor would have walked away from a conversation with me with two black eyes and a bleeding nose.
Victoria would have been told to grow up and make a choice.
Ranjit needs to aim higher and Rodney a little lower.
Jai Hind!
But can we please shelve this book somewhere in the backroom where they've tossed Birth of a Nation and all the other racist dross? Please.
I actually picked this up because I was curious to read about the experience of Indian independence from the point of view of an Anglo-Indian. But obviously I hadn't done my research because reading this book felt like reading what an Englishman thought an Anglo-Indian ought to think about India and Indians.
Let me be clear though, I am 100% aware that Indians can be incredibly racist to the point of self-hating, particularly when it comes to the divide between the western educated and those who aren't. And I accept that even today, there are those who cannot seem to grasp that although they self-identify with the ruling class, they are in no way accepted as such by the establishment, (ie. Indians for Trump).
But when an author chooses to tell a story from the point of view of a bigoted, sexist, self-deluding fool, he needs to give me SOMETHING to hang on to, anything.
Patrick Taylor would have walked away from a conversation with me with two black eyes and a bleeding nose.
Victoria would have been told to grow up and make a choice.
Ranjit needs to aim higher and Rodney a little lower.
Jai Hind!
March 6, 2014
Re-visit via film: Ava Gardner ... Victoria Jones
Stewart Granger ... Col. Rodney Savage
Bill Travers ... Patrick Taylor
Abraham Sofaer ... Surabhai
Francis Matthews ... Ranjit Kasel
Marne Maitland ... Govindaswami
Peter Illing ... Ghanshyam
Edward Chapman ... Thomas Jones
Freda Jackson ... The Sandani
Lionel Jeffries ... Lt. Graham McDaniel
Alan Tilvern ... Ted Dunphy
===================================
R4x
India
56 ratings
epic
spring 2012
series
play dramatisation
rec to Brazilliant et al
The final part of the Savage family saga
1/5 - Patrick Taylor: Anglo-Indian Patrick pursues the daughter of a train driver.
2/5 - Victoria Jones: Anglo-Indian Victoria seeks her true identity amid Britain's turbulent withdrawal.
3/5 - Sirdani Amrita Kasel: Victoria Jones becomes drawn to the Indian way of life, and Ranjit in particular.
4/5 - Ranjit Singh Kasel: Unrest grows in Bhowani as Victoria Jones comes under suspicion from the police.
Laura, Laura, look at this... there be a film!
and there is another one from this saga too:
The Deceivers (1988)
Pierce Brosnan ... William Savage
Shashi Kapoor ... Raja Chandra Singh
Saeed Jaffrey ... Hussein
Helena Michell ... Sarah Wilson
Keith Michell ... Colonel Wilson
David Robb ... George Anglesmith
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2020
Touchingly personal, achingly poignant, and utterly absorbing.
Bhowani Junction is one of those rare novels which just has it all: one of those books, which, after having finished reading it, leaves you feeling as though you are saying goodbye for the very last time, to dear, dear friends.
This book is the first John Masters novel that I have read, and it is clearly his most well known, even having been cinematised at one point in the 1950’s.
The most distinctive and striking thing that one notices whilst reading Bhowani Junction, is the both highly original, and highly personal way in which the story is narrated: it is written in the first person, and yet told through the perspectives of three different characters. This marks the first time that I have ever come across this approach and I am absolutely astonished with the highly personal feel which it lends to the story. This hybrid format achieves a remarkable balance between the dynamism and versatility of an omniscient 3rd person narrative and the personal touch of a standard first person one; neither falling victim to the impersonality of the former, nor the narrow and restricted viewpoint engendered by the latter. In Bhowani Junction this ever so simple, yet thoroughly, unconventional structure is nothing short of a revelation.
Surely, the second largest factor which contributes to the unique and distinctive flavour of this novel, after its narrative structure, is its setting: the story is set in the dying days - or, year to be precise - of the British Indian Empire. This was surely a time of great uncertainty and upheaval; a time when the hopes and ambitions of the British in India were being shattered and turning to dust, whilst those of the Indians themselves were still young, inchoate and ambiguous. Caught in the midst of this momentous shift in power, and perhaps destined to be the most profoundly affected of all, are the Anglo-Indian community - the legacy of centuries of marriages between British servicemen and Indian women - who fulfilled a unique and essential role at the time, in the service of the Indian railways; and who inhabit a sketchy social grey area between the British ruling class and the majority Indian underclass. It is from this community that our main protagonists are drawn; and it all comes together to provide the truly gripping tapestry upon which Masters so expressively explores themes such as community, identity, marriage and belonging.
This is a book of many dimensions, and tells both the physical story of the trials and tribulations of our characters in trying to track down and arrest a violent revolutionary by the name of K. P. Roy; and of the emotional drama concurrently playing out in their personal lives: mainly centred around the turbulent love life and confused loyalties of one Miss Victoria Jones.
Read it! You will not be disappointed.
Bhowani Junction is one of those rare novels which just has it all: one of those books, which, after having finished reading it, leaves you feeling as though you are saying goodbye for the very last time, to dear, dear friends.
This book is the first John Masters novel that I have read, and it is clearly his most well known, even having been cinematised at one point in the 1950’s.
The most distinctive and striking thing that one notices whilst reading Bhowani Junction, is the both highly original, and highly personal way in which the story is narrated: it is written in the first person, and yet told through the perspectives of three different characters. This marks the first time that I have ever come across this approach and I am absolutely astonished with the highly personal feel which it lends to the story. This hybrid format achieves a remarkable balance between the dynamism and versatility of an omniscient 3rd person narrative and the personal touch of a standard first person one; neither falling victim to the impersonality of the former, nor the narrow and restricted viewpoint engendered by the latter. In Bhowani Junction this ever so simple, yet thoroughly, unconventional structure is nothing short of a revelation.
Surely, the second largest factor which contributes to the unique and distinctive flavour of this novel, after its narrative structure, is its setting: the story is set in the dying days - or, year to be precise - of the British Indian Empire. This was surely a time of great uncertainty and upheaval; a time when the hopes and ambitions of the British in India were being shattered and turning to dust, whilst those of the Indians themselves were still young, inchoate and ambiguous. Caught in the midst of this momentous shift in power, and perhaps destined to be the most profoundly affected of all, are the Anglo-Indian community - the legacy of centuries of marriages between British servicemen and Indian women - who fulfilled a unique and essential role at the time, in the service of the Indian railways; and who inhabit a sketchy social grey area between the British ruling class and the majority Indian underclass. It is from this community that our main protagonists are drawn; and it all comes together to provide the truly gripping tapestry upon which Masters so expressively explores themes such as community, identity, marriage and belonging.
This is a book of many dimensions, and tells both the physical story of the trials and tribulations of our characters in trying to track down and arrest a violent revolutionary by the name of K. P. Roy; and of the emotional drama concurrently playing out in their personal lives: mainly centred around the turbulent love life and confused loyalties of one Miss Victoria Jones.
Read it! You will not be disappointed.
July 8, 2014
Set in India in 1946, the story revolves around the dilemma that was facing the Anglo-India people (descendants of mixed race) as the British indicated their willingness to grant independence to India. The four main characters each tell their story in separate sections, not as flashbacks but in a serial progression so the story advances steadily as it explores the problems that Indian, Anglo-Indian and British experienced during extreme political and religious sectarianism that was ravaging India at that time. Victoria, a youngish rather beautiful Anglo-Indian woman is whom the story focuses upon. She is uncertain as to what direction her future holds, for the Anglo-Indians thought of themselves as part of the British supremacy and by default superior to the full-blooded Indians. She explores the alternatives through her family, through the relationships she has as an Army officer, with a childhood friend, with an associate of her childhood friend and the religious/political dilemmas he faced with the political fervor accompanying communism and Congress Party beliefs, and then on the British side with a superior officer and his associates and their attitudes. Each person is very well described, as are their relationships as they all revolve around, and involve, Victoria. I enjoyed the story apart from a few sections where I felt that the author lapsed in his thought descriptions about Victoria and and her commander Robert. An interesting read.
May 15, 2012
[I read this book about 18 months ago, so I have forgotten many details, but I retain a good overall impression of it.]
This novel is written by a man who knew India well, and this shows in his writing.
The Anglo-Indians, that is to say Indians who have some 'white blood' in their ancestry, were looked down on by the Europeans and other Indians alike. This is well described in the book.
Many Anglo-Indians had jobs in the Indian railway system. Bhowani Junction is a railway junction somewhere in India. Most of the main characters in the book are railway employees who lived there.
The tale begins in the years leading up to Indian Independence (in 1947). 'Quit India' saboteurs are planting explosives under railway tracks. Early in the story, one of the Anglo-Indian drivers takes his British superiors to investigate one such incident.
Soon after this, the daughter of one of the Anglo-Indian railway officials visits the Indian part of the town, and thus begins her liaison with an Indian revolutionary.
The novel presents much insight into the lives of Anglo-Indian community, and how its members were viewed by Indians and their British colonizers.
Whilst I was reading the book, I kept having a sneaking suspicion that John Masters, like many others who were not Anglo-Indians, was somewhat scornful of this 'mixed-race' community, and that upset me a little.
This novel is written by a man who knew India well, and this shows in his writing.
The Anglo-Indians, that is to say Indians who have some 'white blood' in their ancestry, were looked down on by the Europeans and other Indians alike. This is well described in the book.
Many Anglo-Indians had jobs in the Indian railway system. Bhowani Junction is a railway junction somewhere in India. Most of the main characters in the book are railway employees who lived there.
The tale begins in the years leading up to Indian Independence (in 1947). 'Quit India' saboteurs are planting explosives under railway tracks. Early in the story, one of the Anglo-Indian drivers takes his British superiors to investigate one such incident.
Soon after this, the daughter of one of the Anglo-Indian railway officials visits the Indian part of the town, and thus begins her liaison with an Indian revolutionary.
The novel presents much insight into the lives of Anglo-Indian community, and how its members were viewed by Indians and their British colonizers.
Whilst I was reading the book, I kept having a sneaking suspicion that John Masters, like many others who were not Anglo-Indians, was somewhat scornful of this 'mixed-race' community, and that upset me a little.
January 29, 2014
As the Brits are departing from India post-WWII, the Anglo-Indians are left in a state of great uncertainty. Do they follow their overlords to "Home," which they have never seen, and be subject to flagrant discrimination, or do they stay in India, subject to the Indians that they have always scorned? The main character, Victoria, explores her options as she spurns her hapless Anglo-Indian suitor, betroths herself to (and then abandons) an Indian national, beds down with a British officer, before her final decision is made evident in the novel's last sentence. Published in 1954, Bhowani Junction is part intrigue, as Indians begin their own violent struggle against each other for power, part Mad Men, for its attitude toward women.
October 29, 2015
This was a very engaging tale set during post war India at the eve of Indian independence from British rule. The focal point is the railroad terminal and town , Bhowani Junction. The plot revolves around the various characters ; English,Indian,and Anglo Indian coming to terms with their place in what will be the new India. The action is fueled by their interconnectedness to seeing to the safe running of this terminus which is threatened by violent elements of the Indian independence movement. The author John Masters lived and served in India at the time which helps makes this a very real and flavorful story.
The book was adapted for film and in my opinion a fine rendering , staring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger-shot on location.
The book was adapted for film and in my opinion a fine rendering , staring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger-shot on location.
June 11, 2016
Quite different from what I usually read, but I'm pleased that I did, because I found the context of the book extremely interesting and well explored.
Partway through reading this book, an AngloIndian friend of mine, whose parents were living in India at the time the book is set, told me that her mother had often told her that life in India at that time was nothing like this book suggests.
Which is quite intriguing, since the book reads as reasonably accurate.
I've just checked, and the film of the book varies in important aspects from the book.
Partway through reading this book, an AngloIndian friend of mine, whose parents were living in India at the time the book is set, told me that her mother had often told her that life in India at that time was nothing like this book suggests.
Which is quite intriguing, since the book reads as reasonably accurate.
I've just checked, and the film of the book varies in important aspects from the book.
February 23, 2014
This book didn't age as well as I'd hoped. I'd read it years and years ago as a young girl, but now I am older I found it full of sexism and prejudice. I am sure that it is of its time but it jarred with me.
April 24, 2012
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
John Masters' continuing saga of the Savage family serving in the British army in India.
John Masters' continuing saga of the Savage family serving in the British army in India.
January 27, 2024
Started bad, got good, fucked the landing
August 11, 2021
An action-packed story that gives a feel for some of the machinations that went on prior to Independence and that are no doubt typical of many times and places (though, one hopes, not always via the use of violence in today's developed countries).
I hadn't known about the position of Anglo-Indians, the fact that they were neither English (for all they might aspire to be) but neither were they Indian in culture. this is what the story is really about, as the character Victoria (Vicky, one of three voices through which the story is told) tries to work out where her place will be in the new India.
Unfortunately, I didn't find Vicky's voice as individual as the other two narrators. She is a strong, individual woman as seen by her actions, but her voice is somewhat static, as if Masters wasn't really able to get inside her head, but put words into her mouth.
There is a lot of sexism and bigotry portrayed (hey, it was the period, and how much has it really changed?), but I think Masters was very aware of it, portraying what Victoria had to deal with. I cheered her on in all her actions - except the last one. I was truly angry with the choice Masters had her made and I was disappointed to not be in her head to understand how she came to it. Can't say much because it would be a spoiler. But it really left me angry and I wanted to sit her down and say, you don't have to do this, this isn't you (any more than the other options are/were).
I hadn't known about the position of Anglo-Indians, the fact that they were neither English (for all they might aspire to be) but neither were they Indian in culture. this is what the story is really about, as the character Victoria (Vicky, one of three voices through which the story is told) tries to work out where her place will be in the new India.
Unfortunately, I didn't find Vicky's voice as individual as the other two narrators. She is a strong, individual woman as seen by her actions, but her voice is somewhat static, as if Masters wasn't really able to get inside her head, but put words into her mouth.
There is a lot of sexism and bigotry portrayed (hey, it was the period, and how much has it really changed?), but I think Masters was very aware of it, portraying what Victoria had to deal with. I cheered her on in all her actions - except the last one. I was truly angry with the choice Masters had her made and I was disappointed to not be in her head to understand how she came to it. Can't say much because it would be a spoiler. But it really left me angry and I wanted to sit her down and say, you don't have to do this, this isn't you (any more than the other options are/were).
April 3, 2018
I wanted to read the book after watching the movie with Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger. It's a big novel about a complex period in Indian history, not easy for a novice like me to follow. Lots of Indian vocabulary that was not defined in the Kindle version made following the action just a bit more difficult. I did love the character of Victoria Jones, played perfectly by Ava Gardner in the movie. The character was Anglo-Indian, and her physical beauty gave her the option of fitting in wherever she chose. She was also very intelligent, agonizing over her decision as she leaned first one way, then the other, and had a guy for every option. Her indecision was an ideal vehicle for examining the strictures and pressures created by the intersection of the modern Indian leaders, the Anglo-Indian professionals, and the British upper class officers. Spoiler alert...the Hollywood ending of the movie is significantly different from the more nuanced ending of the novel. As a sucker for romance, I was a bit disappointed, but the book's ending is truer to its depiction of a society roiled by both embrace of and resistance to change.
August 23, 2024
An engaging romance set in an India still recovering from WWII and not yet sure whether, when or how independence will come. The politics are interesting, as are the descriptions of the railway system, soldiering and police work. I have to say I did enjoy the love scenes as well. Of all the characters Victoria was the most sympathetic and alluring. I have to wonder whether the author didn’t meet someone quite like her in his day. It felt a bit like an autobiography in places from the perspective of the British Gurkha officer. I’d read more of the series because I like the setting and themes, but it wasn’t fine literature.
May 2, 2019
Nobody has captured the interpersonal relationships between the Indians, the Anglo-Indians and the British colonialists, better than John Masters. He has skillfully examined and related the tumultuous relationships that the heroine of the novel, Victoria Jones - an Anglo-Indian Officer in the Women's Auxiliary Corps of the Indian Army, has with Rodney Savage - a British Army Officer; with Patrick Taylor - an Anglo-Indian serving in the Indian Railways; and with Ranjit Kasel, a Sikh colleague of Taylor's, during 1946/1947, i.e., the years leading to Indian independence from Britain.
February 5, 2021
This is a very good read. It's set prior to Indian independence in late 1946/early 1947 in the fictitious city of Bhowani Junction, and looks at the end of British rule from three perspectives; bumbling, obstinate Anglo-Indian railway man Patrick Taylor, his fellow Anglo-Indian fiancée Victoria Jones, troubled by her mixed race, and Colonel Rodney Savage, shrewd British officer. The identity crisis leads Victoria to relationship complications eventually bound up with the struggle for independence in a 1954 novel that has aged well with great character portraits.
May 31, 2021
First published in 1954, this novel is surprisingly modern in its racial sensibilities. And that's what it's all about, when you get under the adventure and sexual politics and racing about in the jungle at night; racial sensibilities and how they change depending on your perspective. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's having a hard time divorcing their own point of view from their feelings about people of different genetic backgrounds and people who tend to dismiss the casual racism of the past with "man of his time" comments.
July 10, 2021
Masters could never overcome his crippling disability of the senses because by default he was an Empire Man. Being a proud owner of the racially supercharged monocle of the Raj, he could never view the subcontinent objectively, as seen in this novel, his ideals, logic, and rationale reeks of toxic nostalgia of colonial subjugation, which he affectionately called as duty. He 'bloody well' greased the machinery, which effectively typecasted Indians and Eurasians, by churning out Raj novels by the scores.
Reading this one was difficult.
Reading this one was difficult.
August 10, 2022
This is a good story and plot that also illuminates how it was to be an Anglo-Indian at the time of the British departure from India. Bhowani Junction is also an excellent work of characterization. The story is told from the views of three of the characters - two men and a woman. And Masters has, down to the smallest detail, made the three totally believable, unique, almost living people. We can see the perspectives of each character colored by their experiences and neuroses, and living through the consequences of the mistakes they made before the story began.
February 1, 2019
In 1947 India and Pakistan were separated. The Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah insisted that the Muslims needed their own country. Pakistan included two units, Pakistan and East Pakistan (later to become Bangladesh). At partition a massive migration ensued as Hindus left (or were driven out of) Pakistan and Muslims left India. This hair-raising novel describes that migration through Punjab.
March 28, 2019
Surprisingly good.Old fashioned,especially in its sexism and racism, but it’s like a time capsule of 1946 India.An intriguing and well plotted story exploring themes of racism and identity as British India inches towards independence.A different ending to the movie version which director George Cukor disliked but overall an insight into the recent but so different past of India.Well worth a read but beware the racist language.
July 24, 2025
I enjoyed this book. It's informative as it is about the end of British rule and the plight of the Anglo-Indians. It also takes into account the rise of Gandhi's followers who sabotaged trains and events to hasten the withdrawal of the British. Anglo Indians were a particular class of people; from their perspective as the British were leaving, their lives would be forever changed.
May 4, 2021
A very interesting first half that more or less falls apart for the sake of a tropey second half involving cookie cutter genre crap you've seen a thousand times in other shitty 'exotic locale' novels. Also, lots of descriptions of trains if you're into that.
February 12, 2022
liked Victoria's character arc and storyline, rest was meh (apart from the description of pre-independence railways. Trains fascinated me as a child and, clearly the author as well. Reading through the operational aspects of Indian Railways was refreshing)
November 12, 2019
A classical masterpiece of its time. Superb.
July 12, 2023
An extremely clever and atmospheric novel which views the dying days of the British Raj through the eyes of several characters - most touchingly, those of the Anglo-Indians who found themselves being neither truly British nor truly Indian. One, Patrick, commits to his "British identity" and the sense of superiority he derives from this, only to be patronized, humiliated and over-ruled. The other, Victoria, commits to her "Indian identity", only to end up being treated in exactly the same way by the other side. Masters takes no prisoners here. A man with great empathy for the human condition, he had no illusions about the failings of both the rulers and the ruled. It's depressing to see that some reviewers have trashed this novel because they've chosen to parade their (wholly imagined) virtue by taking offence at various words and phrases, without having the intelligence to realize that Masters was choosing his words very carefully to illustrate the viewpoints of particular characters. Furthermore, if, instead of spitting out their dummies, these readers had bothered to persist with the novel, they would have realized that the characters are on a journey from which they emerge as wiser and more tolerant people. This is a GOOD book, about flawed and vulnerable people who were struggling to negotiate their place in a world of extreme political and religious turbulence. It is also a heartbreaking book, because it hints at the carnage that would engulf the subcontinent only a few years later, and one suspects that few of these characters would have survived it. That said, the plot is over-complicated and certain sections work less well than others. But even so, it's very memorable.
October 6, 2016
Bhowani Junction, set in India at the ti,me of Independence, confronts many difficult issues with intelligence, honesty and a gift for story-telling that complements understanding.
The author, like one of his major characters, was a colonel in the Indian army. How much of himself can be read into Colonel Rodney Savage, in charge of a regiment of Gurkhas, is impossible to say, but this is a balanced portrait man aware of his own strengths and weaknesses.
The daily life of a railway station is drawn in authoritative fashion, as are the political factions and the ever-present threat of violence.
Above all,this is a novel about the ambivalence of the Anglo-Indian community. These are people coping with normal human emotions while at the same time finding themselves neither truly English not authentically Indian.
Masters has written many novels about this era ina huge nation's history, but in Bhowani Junction he seems to have determined that this will be his magnum opus. In this, he largely succeeds, leaving the reader to admire the sympathy and insight of one who was there, saw it all, and cared deeply.
A word of praise,too, for the reader in the audio version. That, too, has the airof a labour of love.
The author, like one of his major characters, was a colonel in the Indian army. How much of himself can be read into Colonel Rodney Savage, in charge of a regiment of Gurkhas, is impossible to say, but this is a balanced portrait man aware of his own strengths and weaknesses.
The daily life of a railway station is drawn in authoritative fashion, as are the political factions and the ever-present threat of violence.
Above all,this is a novel about the ambivalence of the Anglo-Indian community. These are people coping with normal human emotions while at the same time finding themselves neither truly English not authentically Indian.
Masters has written many novels about this era ina huge nation's history, but in Bhowani Junction he seems to have determined that this will be his magnum opus. In this, he largely succeeds, leaving the reader to admire the sympathy and insight of one who was there, saw it all, and cared deeply.
A word of praise,too, for the reader in the audio version. That, too, has the airof a labour of love.
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