The ruby of the Ganges

by Manuel Alfonseca

Since the death of his mother, John lives a wandering life. He runs away from his home and loiters about the streets of Lucknow, where his father, an English officer in the Indian army, is stationed. When the Indian mutiny starts, John is caught outside the residency of officers. A holy man warns him of his danger if, in spite of his native disguise, he is recognised as English. The boy has no alternative but to accept the protection of the holy man and leave the city. During their journey, they find a little English girl whose parents have been murdered. They disguise her, take her with them, and pretend she is deaf and dumb, for she does not speak the vernacular. Suddenly, while walking through the jungle, they blunder into the encampment of an army commanded by the maharani of Jhansi, one of the leaders of the mutiny. There they find a big ruby, the seal of Bahadur Shah.
In 1988, the Spanish version of this book received the Lazarillo Award, one of the most important awards for children and juvenile books in Spain. The book was published by Editorial Noguer in 1989, but is now out of print.
The translation into English has been done by the author himself.

170 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2011

About the author

Manuel Alfonseca (Madrid, 1946) is a writer and professor in a Spanish university (Autónoma de Madrid) where he was director of the Escuela Politécnica Superior (2001-2004). He worked 22 years in IBM. He has published over 200 scientific articles and many papers and posts on popular science, in Spanish and English. He is the author of over 50 books on computer science, popular science, historic novel, science-fiction and young adult literature, published in Spanish, English, French and other languages. He was awarded the Lazarillo Award (1988) and the La Brújula Award (2012). He is the son of the painter and sculptor Manuel Alfonseca (Santana).

Reviews

[Discedia · Rating 5 out of 5]

John pasa unas aventuras arriesgadas, ya que es inglés y vive con su padre en la India, que se está revolucionando. ¿Conseguirá el niño salvar a sus compañeros?

Es un libro extraordinario. Está tan bien explicado, que soñé que estaba en la situación del libro.

[Mariangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel's review: Este libro es buenísimo. Hay un niño que se llama John que se escapa de su residencia y se va con Svapiti porque John no puede volver a su casa, si vuelve le matarán los indios. El sanyasin cambia el nombre de John a Vadi. Después encuentran a una niña y la llaman Kumari. Los soldados de la rani de Jhansi les persiguen porque Kumari se llevó el rubí del Ganges, y después Vadi tira el rubí al agua. Después se reúnen con su papá Curtis y los indios se rinden. John, su papá y su hermana adoptiva Kumari se van a Inglaterra. Me ha gustado porque es una aventura de persecución.

[Asunción · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hace unos días terminé el libro El Rubí del Ganges de Manuel Alfonseca.
Lo leí en muy poco tiempo. Muy interesante. Podría ser el guión de una película.

A few days ago I ended reading The Ruby of the Ganges, by Manuel Alfonseca.
I read it very fast. It's very interesting. It could be easily turned into the script of a film.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Precioso!