I am a fan of colonial literature - the memoirs, the experiences which can never be repeated and all the fanfare that went with it. Of course the positives on the British side are balanced by the negatives where the natives were oppressed, cheated and penalised at every turn.

This story is full of memorablia, of history in spades in families of all the connections made and unmade, a few scandals and general life in India during the time of the British Raj. The day to day life, the fear of illness, of climate, the danger to women in childbirth, the high rate of infant mortality, the necessity heart breakingly to send children back to England for education and their safety and the loneliness on both sides of families torn apart. An interesting tidbit here were the recipes - the making do and making of what was known and traditional to the Britishers who tried very hard to follow what they knew best.

We are told that in 2007 the author when clearing her parents’ belongings found a series of family letters from WW2 time and this impelled her to explore her family history more deeply. The promise on this book is that her family “served in India” for six generations from the late 18th century – her mother’s family left for New Zealand in the 1930s. Two particular information “treasures” are mentioned and these are personal albums by a mother and daughter of the family. The first was started c 1818 (although the owner married in 1824) and the second was a wedding gift from the groom in 1847. Mention is made too of a family history written by an earlier family member, letters and photos. A seeming treasure trove of information.
What is presented in this disappointing book is a hard to follow detailing of family people – a good family tree would have helped. Some of the family came from Scotland in the first instance (Begbies and Campbells) and branches of their family remained there. But there is strong family intermarriage across the years. Many of the men are in the army (some of course in East India Company Regiments or navy); others were in the East India Company diplomatic or political and trading sides. They reflect the deep system of networks and patronages that were imbedded in the operation of careers in both at that time. ”India” - which included both modern Pakistan and Afghanistan - was in reality the permanent home for many of them. Life could be lived on military or immigrant cantonments. Servants would be Indian, but other life would apparently replicate as far as possible that at “home”.
After the basic family background the author then presents us with mini chapters of “topical” issues – headed by recipes taken from the album. To talk of the recipes: they are of interest in terms of showing the attempts to maintain some “home” culinary traditions – and that in spite of obvious inaccessibility (at least earlier on) of keys ingredients. Needless to say local recipes are not included. The chapter texts are all very slight, rather as if the author has picked topics of interest and gathered odd notes. But it must be said her historical knowledge is poor and her research skills lacking; especially against the range of years and cultural differences.
Recognising that very little information from the albums themselves has been presented and much of it not really in context – women in this book are substantially missing – a few key gems should be mentioned. A number of the men were in the army (eventually of senior rank) so they served in many of the military campaigns of the time. Among them were several amateur artists so we are presented with early sketches and drawings of places they will have travelled to. A scattering of these are reproduced in this book. But do not expect great detail other than could be provided by a quick internet scan. Botanical drawings by a few of the women are offered entirely out of context –some of these point to some artistic skill and the maintenance of ladylike skills abroad. But apart from the transcription of a series of articles from the Bombay Press in 1867 (that surely needed to be treated with a certain amount of caution) there is very little really written either about the women or the men of the family of the nitty-gritty of their life styles – until that is the book dates fall within the survival of family anecdotes passed to the author.
Having approached this book with real interest as someone with local and social historic interest and a certain baseline knowledge about “Scots” in the Indian subcontinent, I confess I was seriously disappointed by the lack of coherence and poor presentation of background information. Even recognising that it is a “family” presentation it felt like a missed opportunity. This is very much a book to “cherry pick” of the occasional personal snippet when reading more widely on the subject. PS: the recipes may give ingredients, but not how much of any. Experimenting might be hazardous…..

What a fun read! All of our families have great stories, but most are just oral tradition, if we are lucky. And photos and such are pretty rare for many people. Bryony Hill is very fortunate to have born into a family that has amassed so much! It is so interesting to read about her families experiences in India and the photos and journal bits, mixed in with recipes, and other assorted odds and ends, were just delightful and entertaining! Like a travelogue to the past. It's a pleasant summer read. Thanks for sharing, Ms. Hill!