Almost English : A Novel

Almost English
During the British Colonial rule in India, Anglo-Indians neither fully English nor fully Indian faced racism and to poverty. By the early 20th century, they numbered 200,000, yet their story has been largely neglected. Until now.
Based on the author’s great-grandparents, this bio-fiction narrates the struggle of an Anglo-Indian man, his wife and their seven children on the North-West Frontier of India from 1885-1912.
Despite being educated in Britain and feeling English, Stephen Turner was one-quarter Indian. He was barred from British clubs, relegated to the back pews at church and only eligible for low-ranking government jobs.
The Turner family endured frigid winters, long separations, poverty, illness and racism. Stephen longed for acceptance and toiled in dull work on the railway, as a clerk and eventually as a rural administrator. To the Raj he was an educated, devout and loyal man, the useful other, but he wasn’t one of them.
and This book also explores the author’s parallel quest for belonging. Through a series of innovative interstices, she tells of her research and the discovery of family letters, artworks, artifacts herself. This new form links the past and present, to bring a fresh and deeper understanding to both.
“This book is immediate and important. I enjoyed it all the way through and learned so much. The characters are as complicated as we all are, flawed, likeable, and compelling.” – DIANE SCHOEMPERLEN, CANADIAN GOVERNOR-GENERAL AWARD-WINNING NOVELIST
“This is a fascinating and detailed family history about life in India. Both easy and fun to read.” – MARK FRUTKIN, CANADIAN TRILLIUM PRIZE AND INTERNATIONAL IPPY AWARD-WINNING NOVELIST
BARBARA SIBBALD is the author of three novels and an award-winning collection of short fiction.