The Body in the Bokhara

"To make a complete catalogue of the misinformation which the rug fraternity hand on from one to another would need 'a painful man with his pen, and as much patience as he who wrote the Lives and Deaths of the Martyrs.'" H. G. Dwight. Persian Miniatures. 1912

 On Amazon

I've often been told that I should write a book about our travels in Afghanistan. I did, a long time ago, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. An editor who looked at the manuscript told me that my trouble was verisimilitude - I'm too fond of accuracy and the truth. I needed, she told me, to learn to lie. What she was telling me that the book was boring, and she was right.
The point of this story is that even when writing fiction I'm still fond of accuracy and the truth, although I hope that I've got beyond boring. I'm concerned that the people and events in Afghanistan described in The Body in the Bokhara might seem unlikely, too much of a fiction, but they're all based on real people and events. The political events described did not happen in 1935 (to the best of my knowledge) but they do reflect what happened in Afghanistan in 1974 and 1978-79. Zahir, the King of Afghanistan in 1935, was still the king in 1974. The rug and tea dealers are all versions of people that I've known. And business is still done on a handshake.
A Journey through Afghanistan 1972-2015:

That's me on the left, west of Bamian, 1972.

Coup, 1978

Some sources for The Body in the Bokhara:

Chaikhana (teahouse), north of Kabul, 1972

Kunduz, Afghanistan, 1975

Kabul, 1975.

Troubadour, story teller, 1977.

Lunch

In the old rug bazaar.

In the museum, Peshawar.

Kiss Miss

"You are jesting ! What has a girl to do with love, who comes out to India? Common sense must tell her that she is here to improve her condition, which will be best effected by securing the most advantageous party that falls in her way."

A Lady
East India Sketchbook

Winter in India was the time for the "fishing fleet" to arrive - young women hoping to find husbands among the men who had come to India to serve the British Raj. And it's Christmas, known by the household servants as Burra Din - the Great Day - or Kiss Miss. There are several young "misses" in Jonathan Prosper's life in Kiss Miss, one of whom he's very fond of. The others are dead.

"There is no doubt it is more difficult in India than at home to obey the command of one's childhood: 'to behave pretty and be a lady.'"

Olivia in India

Where Gods Dwell

"Any fool can write a novel but it takes real genius to sell it."

 J. G. Ballard

available on Amazon

When I first stayed in Sudder St in Calcutta in 1972, using a rickshaw was the only way to get around. With my strong Australian egalitarian streak it seemed offensive to employ a man in this way. I soon realised that the rickshaw wallahs would be unemployed if no one hired them and that inevitably they got a lot more money from me than the locals. That's how I rationalised it anyway.

We couldn't afford to stay at the Fairlawn Hotel in Sudder Street in those days but we managed to have a drink in the front garden. I did get to stay at the Fairlawn in later years, under the firm guidance of Mrs Violet Smith. People who have stayed at the Fairlawn Hotel might see some resemblance to the establishment run by Mrs Kransky at 15 Lahori Lane. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

From The Statesman, Calcutta, Oct 1902

The Jonathan Prosper Stories

"The private detective of fiction is a fantastic creation who acts and speaks like a real man. He can be completely realistic in every sense but one, that one sense being that in life as we know it such a man would not be a private detective."  Raymond Chandler. Letters

The books are finally published -available online. 

Amazon Author Page 

From The Statesman, Calcutta, 1900: