The Road to Mandalay by B.M. Croker

B.M. Croker's The Road to Mandalay opens in the English village of Tadpool, where gossiping spinster sisters Jane and Mitty Tebbs notice the blinds drawn at Littlecote Hall and learn that its reclusive tenant, Edward Shafto, has died suddenly after losing his fortune to a swindling agent. Shafto's flighty, socially ambitious wife Lucilla is left with only a small income for herself and their son Douglas, and gossip soon reveals that her hysterical reproaches hastened her husband's fatal heart attack. Jane Tebbs helps organize the sale of Littlecote and its contents, and Lucilla and Douglas leave the village for London. Four years later, Douglas is a poorly paid City clerk living with his selfish, status-conscious mother at a Bayswater boarding house, "Malahide," run by the kindly Irishwoman Mrs. Malone. Lucilla plans to marry a wealthy Jewish antiques dealer, Manasseh Levison, and pressures Douglas toward marriage with his pushy cousin Cossie Larcher, one of his vulgar Larcher relations. Douglas dreads both prospects. An old schoolfriend's example and his own restlessness sharpen his longing to escape to a wider, more adventurous life abroad. Unexpectedly, Douglas's firm offers him a clerkship in Rangoon, Burma, but he lacks the roughly £100 needed for passage and outfit. Mrs. Malone secretly arranges to overpay him for an ugly Chinese figurine he had bought her cheaply at the Caledonian Market, pretending a dealer values it highly; in truth the piece proves genuinely to be a valuable antique "Kang He" porcelain, purchased for real by Levison, and further money comes when the market seller who sold it, since deceased, leaves an unexpected windfall. Fortified with funds, Douglas firmly rejects Cossie and his mother's marriage schemes, bids farewell to Mrs. Malone and his relations, and sails for Burma on the Blankshire. On the voyage he becomes friends with fellow passengers including the breezy Mrs. Milward and her young charge, pretty Sophy Leigh, who is being sent to live with her aunt Flora Krauss and Flora's overbearing German husband in Rangoon. Douglas and Sophy grow close during the journey, along with police officer Hoskins and the boorish German passenger Otto Bernhard, who also shows interest in Sophy. In Rangoon, Douglas settles into work at the mercantile firm Gregory's, lodges in a chummery with fellow bachelors FitzGerald, Roscoe, and MacNab, and is welcomed by his neighbors the Salters, an Englishman married to a Burmese woman. He explores the city's markets, pagodas, and customs with growing fascination for Burmese life. Meanwhile Sophy finds herself overworked as unpaid housekeeper and companion to her ailing aunt under the demanding Herr Krauss, cut off from society and from the horse and freedom she was promised. Concerned friends, including Mrs. Gregory and Mrs. Milward, intervene, prompting Mrs. Krauss to rouse herself and restore Sophy's social life, horse, and comforts. Sophy and Douglas continue meeting at social events, deepening their attachment, while Mrs. Krauss's mysterious lingering illness, her strange excursions to a squalid Chinese shop to buy ivory netsukes, and the schemes of Bernhard and other German associates form an undercurrent of intrigue around her household.

By B.M. Croker · First published 1892 · Genre: Literary Fiction, Drama, Social Commentary · 38 chapters · 98,658 words

First lines

"What do you think, Mitty? All the blinds are down at ‘Littlecote," announced Miss Jane Tebbs, bursting open the drawing-room door and disturbing her sister in a surreptitious game of patience. In well-ordered households the mistress is understood to have various domestic tasks claiming her attention in the morning. Cards should never appear until after sunset.

"Blinds down?" echoed Miss Tebbs, hastily moving a newspaper in the hope of concealing her ill-doing. "Why are you in such a taking, Jane? I suppose the family are away."

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The World For Sale Book 3 by Gilbert Parker
• The World For Sale Book 2 by Gilbert Parker
• The World For Sale Book 1 by Gilbert Parker
• Batuschka by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
• The Seed Of Empire by Fred M. White
• My Great And Only by Rudyard Kipling

Genres

• Literary Fiction — The book explores complex characters and social dynamics, focusing on themes of class, loss, and personal transformation.
• Drama — The narrative centers around intense emotional situations, family conflicts, and societal expectations, creating a dramatic atmosphere.
• Social Commentary — The story critiques social class structures and the impact of wealth and poverty on relationships and community.
• Historical Fiction — Set in a specific historical context, the book reflects the societal norms and values of its time.

Tags

adventure · travel · colonialism · Burma · Mandalay · India · Britain · history · culture · identity · politics · power

What this Textopian page supports

The Road to Mandalay is listed on Textopian as a novel by B.M. Croker, dated 1892 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Novel
• Author: B.M. Croker
• Date: 1892 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Literary Fiction, Drama, Social Commentary, Historical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
• Length: 98,658 words
• Structure: 38 chapters, 1,789 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Road to Mandalay by B.M. Croker
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

Contents

• BLINDS DOWN
• WHAT HANNAH SAID
• THE CLOSED HOUSE
• KICKS AND HALFPENCE
• CLOUDS
• AN EMPTY OFFER
• "THE MONSTER"
• BOUND FOR BURMA
• THE "BLANKSHIRE"
• THE LAND OF PROMISE
• A BURMESE HOSTESS
• EAST AND WEST
• "KEEP AN EYE UPON HER"
• THE MANTLE OF FERNANDA
• THE CHUMMERY
• MR. AND MRS. ABEL SALTER
• AT THE PLAY
• THE CHINESE SHOP
• CHAFF
• THE PONGYE
• THE COCAINE DEN
• THE APPROACHING DREAD
• MYSTERY AND SUSPICION
• SENTENCE OF DEATH
• THE LATE RICHARD ROSCOE
• FITZGERALD IMPARTS INFORMATION
• A ROPE TRICK
• MA CHIT
• MUNG BAW
• ENLIGHTENMENT
• SEEING IS BELIEVING
• ON DUTY
• SOPHY
• ALL IS OVER
• MUNG BAW LIES LOW
• THE BOMBSHELL
• THE TUG OF WAR
• SERGEANT-MAJOR RYAN

More by B.M. Croker

• Collected Stories (1920)
• The Serpent's Tooth (1898)
• The Real Lady Hilda (1896)
• Quicksands (1927)
• A Free-Will Offering (1850)
• The Missus a Dog Tragedy (1898)
• The Betrayal of Shere Bahadur (1924)
• Proven or not Proven? (1920)
• All works by B.M. Croker