The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj – Deckle Edge Author: Anne de Courcy | Language: English | ISBN:
006229007X | Format: PDF
The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj – Deckle Edge Description
From Booklist
Romance, adventure—and malaria. For the women who traveled to British-ruled India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, often seeking husbands, the trip could bring more than they bargained for. Commonly referred to as “the Fishing Fleet,” these women travelers and their era are brought to life with vivid firsthand accounts of their journeys. Every aspect of their experiences is examined, from the conditions on the boats out and the particulars of courtship to the challenges of housekeeping and isolation that faced a Raj bride. De Courcy can paint a detailed picture and provide context seamlessly, but she wisely takes a backseat to the first-person recollections of the members of the Fishing Fleet, which are both charming and sharply drawn. Using extensive quotations, de Courcy weaves together the highlights of their stories from letters, diaries, and more. The result captures the dichotomy of a culture both adventurous and restrictive, with its glittering social whirl and exhausting battles with heat, humidity, and insect infestations. The only way to get closer would be to join the Fishing Fleet. --Bridget Thoreson
Review
“The contrasts are irresistibly melodramatic, the characters colorful yet tantalizingly repressed. …. It is enough to make you wonder why Julian Fellowes hasn’t sent a few more members of the Downton Abbey cast on the heels of Miss O’Brien, seeking their fortunes in Delhi and beyond...” (New York Times Book Review)
“Vividly sketches the lives lived in this strangle limbo…richly entertaining.” (Boston Globe)
“Making liberal use of letters and journals, The Fishing Fleet paints a fascinating picture of these women and their history…a glimpse of a unique era.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
“Journalist De Courcy provides a fascinating account—not quite gossipy but loaded with juicy anecdotes—of adventurous women sailing for the subcontinent in the 19th and early 20th centuries to fulfill their destinies as wives.” (
Publishers Weekly)
See all Editorial Reviews
- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (March 4, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 006229007X
- ISBN-13: 978-0062290076
- Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I have always loved Anne De Courcy's biographies and books about social history of women, including the excellent The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters, 1939 and Debs at War: How Wartime Changed Their Lives, 1939-1945 and I was equally delighted with her latest work, which looks at the rather bizarre subject of 'husband hunting' in the Raj. This book spans all the years of the British in India, although most of the stories are from the twentieth century.
When the British first went to India to trade and work, the men who left the country knew they would probably not return and married Indian wives or took Indian mistresses. As time went on and the East India Company and trade was replaced by government and the ruling classes, men were curtailed from doing this by various means which meant their children were punished by being unable to obtain good jobs and positions. Obviously, as men did not want either their wives or children to suffer through being married to them, gradually their only option was to marry girls from home - easier said than done as travel difficulties meant finding British brides difficult. The Company then began to pay passage to India of a number of willing women who were maintained for a year and expected to marry within that time.
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