THE BLOODSTONE PAPERS by GLEN DUNCAN
Simon & Schuster paperback, 405pp, £12.99

There are two main strands to this novel, each intercut with and informing the other. One strand is set in India in the 1930s through to the 1950s, taking in all the major events, such as WW2 and Independence. The main character is Ross Monroe, an Anglo-Indian and thus part of the race who helped the British run the Raj, but now marginalised in the wake of Independence. Ross is a talented boxer with dreams of going to the Olympics and making a career for himself as a fighter, but his chances are squandered when he is drawn into the schemes of British fraudster Skinner, the man who engineers the theft of Monroe’s family heirloom, his mother’s treasured bloodstone ring. With his boxing career in ruins and facing criminal charges, Monroe’s only hope is to escape to Britain. Part of this story is told from the viewpoint of Kate, the woman Monroe loves and comes to marry, detailing her unhappy childhood and the steps she was forced to take to avoid the attentions of an abusive uncle.

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Tags: Black Static • Bloodstone Papers • Book Reviews • Glen Duncan • Peter Tennant