In memory of M.M. Kaye

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Mary Margaret ('Mollie') Kaye (August 21, 1908 - January 29, 2004) was a British writer. Her most famous book was The Far Pavilions (1978).

Mary Margaret Kaye's two bestselling novels, THE FAR PAVILIONS and SHADOW OF THE MOON have established her as one of the great historical novelists of our time. Not since Kipling has there been an author who combines such a profound understanding of India and its people with a storytelling gift of such rich imagination and narrative skill.

M.M. Kaye comes from a long line of soldiers and statesmen whose service under the Raj goes back to the early years of the nineteen century, when India was still a land of native principalities and kingdoms ruled by maharajas and administered by British officials. Her grandfather, William Kaye of the Bengal Civil Service, was among the last to attend Addiscombe, the East India Company's college. One of his cousins, Sir John Kaye, was Political Secretary of the India Office and the author of a classic six-volume history of the Indian Mutiny; another cousin, Edward Kaye, commanded a battery at the famous Siege of Delhi and was later made a Lieutenant General. Her father, Sir Cecil Kaye, served in the Indian Army and became Director of Central Intelligence; and her brother William - the last Kaye to serve in the 'India-of-the-Raj' - carried on the distinguished family tradition.

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Comments

[marymonroe.livejournal.com]

Shadow of the Moon might be the first historical I read outside of Lucy Maud Montgomery and to this day it's still one of my very favorite books. It got me hooked on India and its culture; now I organize Indian movie nights for my girl friends and we cook Indian food and watch a Bollywood movie afterward:-D I still dream of going to India someday and it's all because of M.M. her books were beautifully crafted, with a lot of historical and cultural details without it being overwhelming and discouraging. I loved her strong heroes/heroines who never looked down to the natives with scorn, as the rest of the Englishpeople did at the time, but instead understood them and sometimes liked them better than most of their own countrymen. I liked The Far Pavilions and Zanzibar every bit as much as Shadow of the Moon.