The Far Field Trade cloth - 2001

From the publisher

In the tradition of Conrad, Kingsolver, and Ondaatje, Edie Meidav weaves from the tragedy of colonialism an epic first novel of stirring intensity. It's 1936, the world is sliding into war, and Henry Fyre Gould has left behind the salons of New York City for the British colony of Ceylon, the tear-shaped island off the coast of India. Driven by an arrogant faith in his ideals and convinced of his heroic destiny, he storms into the village of Rajottama, determined to build a model Buddhist society.
Grand and intimate, witty and poignant, THE FAR FIELD is the story of Henry's education and transformation. He lands in a village that buzzes with colorful eccentrics: a mysterious sugar-voiced boy, Johnny, who serves as his aide; the Buddhist monk with a taste for potted ham; Pushpa Pilima, the sharp-tongued aristocrat and rebel. There is also Nani, Henry's beautiful and enigmatic maid, a center of controversy in the village and the object of the dreamer's infatuation. Expecting to win the people's hearts with his various projects, Henry instead slowly begins to unravel. He discovers that his spiritual utopia is a tinderbox of conflict and suspicion, and his dangerous obsession and meddling plans finally strain tensions to the point of disaster, sending Henry on a hallucinatory journey toward salvation. Fusing brave eloquence and sly humor, Meidav grapples with the consequences of the West's fascination with the East and explores the nature of faith and love. THE FAR FIELD, a singular work of sweeping imaginative power, introduces an original and important new voice in fiction.