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The Opium Clerk

The Opium Clerk

Kunal Basu
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Hiran is born in 1857: the year of Mutiny and the year his father dies. Brought to Calcutta by his widowed mother he turns out to have few talents, apart from an uncanny ability to read a man’s fate in his palm. When luck gets him a job at the auction house, Hiran finds himself embroiled in a mysterious trade, and even more deeply embroiled in the affairs of his nefarious superior, the infamous Mr. Jonathan Crabbe.
Commissioned to procure a child for Mr. Crabbe’s opium addicted wife, he stumbles upon his own future. An unlikely hero, Hiran, the opium clerk, is caught up in rebellion and war, buffeted by storms at sea, by love and intrigue, innocently implicated in fraud and dark dealings.

Imprint: Vintage Books

Published: Dec/2025

ISBN: 9780143469766

Length : 320 Pages

MRP : ₹399.00

The Opium Clerk

Kunal Basu

Hiran is born in 1857: the year of Mutiny and the year his father dies. Brought to Calcutta by his widowed mother he turns out to have few talents, apart from an uncanny ability to read a man’s fate in his palm. When luck gets him a job at the auction house, Hiran finds himself embroiled in a mysterious trade, and even more deeply embroiled in the affairs of his nefarious superior, the infamous Mr. Jonathan Crabbe.
Commissioned to procure a child for Mr. Crabbe’s opium addicted wife, he stumbles upon his own future. An unlikely hero, Hiran, the opium clerk, is caught up in rebellion and war, buffeted by storms at sea, by love and intrigue, innocently implicated in fraud and dark dealings.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Kunal Basu

Kunal Basu is the author of several critically acclaimed novels. His story ‘The Japanese Wife’, from his collection by the same name, has now been made into an award-winning film.

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