Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant kingdom of dreams
Review: This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read in my life, and one I would recommend to anyone. The tale follows the life of Ashton Pelham-Martyn, also known as Ashok, a man who straddles several cultures in nineteenth-century India. The son of aristocratic English parents, he is taken into hiding and raised as a Hindu boy by his nurse after his parents are killed and revolution breaks out. "Ashok" grows up as a servant in the royal palace of the small kingdom of Gulkote, near the Himalayan mountains (the titular Far Pavilions). He developes a special friendship with Anjuli, the out-of-favor daughter of the Raj, whose mother died and was supplanted by a dangerous schemer. Anjuli and Ashok tell each other stories of the magical kingdom they will one day rule together, stories which help sustain them through the cruel intrigues of the royal court.
When those intrigues almost cost Ash his life, however, he is smuggled out of Gulkote and returned to England to claim his birthright, only returning many years later as an adult in the Royal army. With his special understanding of the cultures and perspectives of India, he still finds his "own" culture alien and insensitive, and discovers that perhaps nothing can stop the revolutionary movements that are battling more and more violently against British rule.
A chance assignment reunites him with Anjuli, now a grown woman who has managed to survive the intrigues of the court but whose days are clearly numbered. Ultimately, as India ignites around them, they will have to flee together to seek out the kingdom of their childhood dreams, but the journey along the way is memorable, astonishing, and will haunt YOUR dreams.
Kaye's story is remarkably vivid and detailed, full of well-researched detail that's made all the more accurate by the fact that Kaye, too, was born in India and educated in England. The story actually derives from tales she had heard in India of a strange wedding. When she found the diary of an English officer who had been involved in the real-life incident, she realized she had the makings of a fascinating story. It's a rare writer who can take such a story and weave it into something this epic and beautiful, and this is a journey not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books
Review: This epic book will forever be on my bookshelf. If history repeats itself, I'm sure I'll even discover even more depth the 3rd time! It's fabulous!
Rating:
Summary: Other ending?
Review: I very much enjoyed this book, as have the other reviewers. But I just wonder what the original ending was? From what I understand, this ending was created for a later publication than the original. If you've read the other version, please contact me.I did learn a lot from this book, including the practice of suttee, geography of the India peninsula. I give it 4 stars because I think a map would have greatly enhanced my understanding. I referred to my globe, but the times have changed.
Rating:
Summary: A simply wonderful book
Review: This book is comparable to War and Peace and that's saying a lot. The names and characters, as in War and Peace, can be a bit daunting to remember at first, but stay with it. It is a love story, but the story moves so fast and with such an interesting chain of events that the story never drags. This is one of those books that you wish wouldn't end. I've never seen it listed among the all time greatest books, but it should be.
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