The Hungry Tide

Author	Ghosh, Amitav
Year	2004
First published	2004
Publisher	London: HarperCollins
Number of pages	402
Edition	First UK hardback
ISBN	9780007141784
Keywords	scientist main character, biology, zoology, female scientist, habitat at risk, risk to society (role of science), natural history, marine sciences

Publications that discuss this title

• Haynes, Roslynn (2014) Whatever happened to the "mad, bad" scientist? Overturning the stereotype.. In: Public Understanding of Science

Abstract

A multi-layered novel of place about the Sundarban archipelago, a wild maze of islands and waterways on the Bay of Bengal. Piyali Roy, an Indian-American marine biologist, travels across the Sundarbans in search of the once plentiful Irrawaddy dolphin. Kanai Dutt is a successful New Delhi businessman and interpreter, who has traveled to the region to retrieve his deceased uncle's journal, which recounts the history of the islands and the brutal eviction of a group of poor settlers that resulted from the government's overzealous conservation efforts. And Fokai is a local fisherman and father. In the course of their private quests and convergent stories, Ghosh explores the volatile interfaces between ecology, sociology and twentieth century politics. (FMS Gaines)