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The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj, by Anne de Courcy
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By the late nineteenth century, Britain's colonial reign seemed to know no limit—and India was the sparkling jewel in the Imperial crown. Many of Her Majesty's best and brightest young men departed for the Raj to make their careers, and their fortunes, as bureaucrats, soldiers, and businessmen. But in their wake they left behind countless young ladies who, suddenly bereft of eligible bachelors, found themselves facing an uncertain future. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, some of these women decided to follow suit and abandon their native Britain for India's exotic glamour and—with men outnumbering women by roughly four to one in the Raj—the best chance they had at finding a husband.
Drawing on a wealth of firsthand sources, including unpublished memoirs, letters, photographs, and diaries, Anne de Courcy brings the incredible world of "the Fishing Fleet," as these women were known, to life. In these sparkling pages, she describes the glittering whirlwind of dances, parties, tennis tournaments, tiger shoots, and palatial banquets that awaited in the Raj, all geared toward the prospect of romance. Most of the girls were away from home for the first time, and they plunged headlong into the heady dazzle of expatriate social life; marriages were frequent. However, after the honeymoon many women were confronted with a reality that was far from the fairy tale they'd been chasing.
Rich with drama and color, The Fishing Fleet is a sumptuous, utterly compelling real-life saga of adventure, romance, and heartbreak in the heyday of the British Empire.
- Sales Rank: #1020227 in Books
- Published on: 2015-03-03
- Released on: 2015-03-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .86" w x 5.31" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 384 pages
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 strange 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)
A “lively history…. Colorful.” (Daily Beast)
“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)
About the Author
Anne de Courcy has written eleven books, including Diana Mosley: Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler's Angel; Debs at War; and The Viceroy's Daughters. She lives in London and Gloucestershire.
Most helpful customer reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
The Fishing Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj
By S Riaz
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. For young women, perhaps not pretty or rich enough to make a 'good match' at home, it was a chance to find a husband with better prospects than they could at home and women flocked to India, willing to try to make a go of it. In these early years, the demand for wives were so great that widows were even proposed to during the funeral of their husbands! Although it seems quite amazing to us, for women whose only status came through marriage in those years and who could be considered an 'Old Maid' as young as her early twenties, it was probably a last ditch attempt to avoid a life of dependence or becoming the dreaded governess or companion. These early stories abound with stories of travel difficulties, illness and the possible humiliation as being sent back as 'returned empties'...
Later in the years of the Raj, women themselves (or rather their family) paid for them to visit India either to visit family for the social experience as much as the chance of marriage. These are the years of a social whirl and a chance for young women to experience the heady delights of gala weeks and untold eligable suitors - especially after the first world war, when young men were simply not available to marry at home. Women aimed to marry men from the Indian Civil Service or Army Officers, although many men were unable to marry until they were at least thirty. However, there were plenty of males willing to escort young women to the dances, parties, polo matches and trips that were part of life at that time. De Courcy uses letters, interviews and personal memories to make that time come alive and discusses everything from the voyage out, to pitfalls awaiting the young women who visited and often stayed.
It is fair to say that life in the Raj was not all wonderful. There was inherent racism and mixing between the races was heavily censored. Although one Maharajah recevied permission to bring his discreet French mistress to India, when Maharajah Rajendar Singh wanted to marry the sister of the young Irishman who looked after his horses, the match met disapproval on terms of both race and rank and ended in tragedy. There were many other problems faced by young women: snobbishness, disapproval, the lonliness of isolated plantations or small towns, discomfort, the heat, and the loss of children through illness or because it was expected they would be sent back to England for their education - where they also often suffered, at best from being lonely, and at worst were possibly abused by unscrupulous people who mistreated them when so far away from home. However, for many it was a land of magic, beauty and opportunity and, for many, happy endings. This is a riveting read, full of wonderful personal stories and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Lastly, I read the kindle version of this book (I hope the author makes her other books available in this format) and the illustrations were included at the end.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Reads like research notes
By Rowdy Yates
While the topic of shipping hundreds of women to India to become proper British brides is quite intriguing, this book is tedious and disappoints the reader. It is organized into chapters based on categories, such as the "voyage" or "courtship". Each chapter contains vignettes and descriptions of different persons who lived through the Fishing Fleet era. The details about people come and go throughout the book, so there is no flow or storyline to the book. I found many grammatical errors and the lack of commas in many instances led me to improperly understand her sentences; I had to re-read them several times sometimes to comprehend her meaning.
Our book group, which rarely agrees, did concur that this book disappoints. Many of us felt it was filled with interesting information, but we longed for the author to create a story that would keep our interest. Most of us did not even finish the book.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
The Fishing Fleet
By Liza
Although it is a very interesting and historicaly correct book, I found that I struggled to get through it. It is very detailed and long. However those interested in India during the Raj and the social goings on of the Britsh in India, will probably find it worth while reading.
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