Great Eastern Hotel
India

Great Eastern Hotel

by Ruchir Joshi

Society & Class Historical Fiction 2025

Summary

Set in Calcutta (now Kolkata) during the Second World War and the turbulent years that follow, Great Eastern Hotel is an expansive historical novel about a city caught between colonial rule, political upheaval and the promise of independence. The story begins in August 1941, on the day of Rabindranath Tagore’s death, when thousands gather to mourn the celebrated poet. Against this backdrop, the lives of four central characters begin to intertwine: Nirupama, a history student and Communist Party volunteer; Imogen, the English daughter of a British colonial official; Kedar, an aspiring painter from a wealthy family; and Gopal, a young pickpocket drawn into a dangerous underworld. Their paths cross with those of soldiers, artists, revolutionaries and secret agents who gather at the city’s famous Great Eastern Hotel. Through interconnected stories of love, ambition, espionage and political struggle, Joshi captures a society on the brink of transformation. The hotel becomes a symbol of Kolkata itself—a meeting place for cultures, conflicting loyalties and people whose lives are swept up in the currents of history.

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About the author
Ruchir Joshi
Ruchir Joshi

Ruchir Joshi is an Indian novelist, filmmaker, columnist and essayist, born in 1960 in Kolkata. He grew up in the city before leaving India in 1979 to study in the United States. He later returned to India and has spent much of his career between Delhi, London and Kolkata. Joshi made his literary debut with The Last Jet-Engine Laugh (2001), an ambitious novel that established his reputation for experimental storytelling and vivid depictions of Indian life. He subsequently published Poriborton! An Election Diary (2011), documenting the political changes surrounding the West Bengal state elections, and edited Electric Feather: The Tranquebar Book of Erotic Stories (2009), an anthology of contemporary Indian erotic writing. Alongside his literary career, Joshi has worked as a journalist and columnist for publications including The Telegraph, The Hindu and India Today. He is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker whose films include Eleven Miles and the award-winning Tales from Planet Kolkata. His second novel, Great Eastern Hotel (2025), received the Crossword Book Award for Fiction and was praised for its sweeping portrayal of Kolkata’s history, culture and political transformation.

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Details
Published
2025
Author
Ruchir Joshi