The East Indian by Brinda Charry

As a child, I was fascinated with the Christopher Columbus cartoon that aired early Saturday morning and the Disney movie Pocahontas. Both painted a beautiful picture of the discovery and creation of the New World. Adventure on the high seas, interactions with Indigenous peoples, building towns and working the earth – it all seemed so wonderful. Now, as an adult, I have come to learn that this fantastical image of the New World could not be farther from the truth. Brinda Charry’s novel The East Indian gives a true representation of the struggles and hardship of the New World as seen through the eyes of a young East Indian boy named Tony.

“Brinda Charry’s novel The East Indian gives a true representation of the struggles and hardship of the New World as seen through the eyes of a young East Indian boy named Tony.”

I had never pictured an East Indian in Colonial America as early as the 1630’s but this is exactly where Tony’s story evolves. Born in the small port town of Armagon in East India, Tony’s younger years were spent in the adoring presence of his mother and grandmother who loved to tell him the ancient legends of the gods which were full of adventure and mayhem. His mother was the most beautiful courtesan in the area and Tony saw many men come and go over the years, but one man that came to call on his mother would change his life forever. This man, Master Day, was a white man, an employee of the English East India Company and it was he who would eventually teach Tony the English language and unknowingly set Tony on his journey to the New World.

When he was eleven years old, Tony met an East Indian man who told him tales of going to London and becoming a Christian. This sparked Tony’s interest, and he started to become restless. He dreamed of going on a voyage. Suddenly orphaned due to a cholera epidemic, Tony had no one left but Master Day who arranged for Tony to sail to London to work for an acquaintance, but the trip went terribly wrong, and Tony was left to fend for himself in the grimy streets of London. Just as he began to find his way, he was kidnapped and taken on a voyage to the New World where he became an indentured servant to a relentless master. Not black or white in complexion, Tony was faced with racism and never truly fit in with anyone since he was the only East Indian. Though faced with all sorts of hardships, Tony never gave up on his dream of becoming a physician’s assistant.

The innocence of Tony’s character is what really pulls you to this story. His outlook on life is so different from everyone else’s. He is the very face of resilience as he meanders through the New World, never quite belonging. What would normally beat a person down, seemed to keep Tony going. His best quality was adaptability which is what saved his life many times. Even though his situation was ever-changing, he continued to stay true to himself and never gave up on his dream.

On top of Tony’s sad but wonderful story, we are also given a historical glimpse into what life was like in Jamestown, Virginia in the 1630’s. Many men ventured to the New World for a better life, but times were hard, and living was rough. Many perished on the voyage across the ocean and more perished upon arrival due to new sicknesses and a lack of doctors to administer care. The landscape was not what was promised, and some could not make a living farming due to poor quality soil and poor location.

While I genuinely enjoyed this novel, I will say that I found this story incredibly sad. There was a constant dark cloud over Tony from the moment he left India, but Brinda Charry’s writing is so rich and colourful that I was able to see the beauty in the story regardless of the hardships suffered by the characters. This was a unique historical fiction novel and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Brinda Charry came to the United States from India as a graduate student in 1999 and has been living here since. She is a novelist-turned-academic-returned-novelist. A specialist in English Renaissance literature (Shakespeare and contemporaries), she has published numerous books and articles in that field. The East Indian is her first novel published in the United States. She currently lives in Keene, New Hampshire, with her husband and dog.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner (May 2 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1668004526
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1668004524

Laura Patterson

Laura Patterson is a Registered Acupuncturist and a QA Lab Technician from rural New Brunswick where she lives with her husband and twin boys. She has a BSc in Biology and a Diploma in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. When she's not working in the lab or in her clinic, she enjoys camping and adventuring with her family, reading many books, and writing book reviews.