M. M. Kaye: The Far Pavilions

I did this book for my final english project, along with Kim. They both have very similar stories. This book is also set in Northern India during the last half of the 18th century. Ash (the main charachter) is orphaned at about 2 years of age, and he grows up with his native foster mother Sita in a Hindu mountain kingdom. When Sita dies he finds out a bout his past and is sent back to England to go to school. Then, when he returns he joins the Guides, a famous regiment based in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He leaves the Guides for 3 years to hunt down a deserter (we don't get to hear this part of the story) and as punishment he is sent to escort a wedding party across India. He finds out that this party is from the country he grew up with. He meets the princess Juli who he had grown up with, and the fall deeply in love. He becomes extremly sad when she refuses to run away with him, and insists upon marrying the ugly Rana. As Ash leaves to escort the party back his life is in ruins. He is still not accepted back into his regiment, so he is sent to a regiment down sout, very close to the Rana's kingdom. He hears that the Rana has died and sets off on a very dangerous mission to rescue Juli from being burned with her dead husband. Ash and Juli and the guide are the only 3 people out of the group of seven to make it out a live. Ash and Juli get married on a boat, and travel back to Peshwar as Ash is accepted back into his regiment. Britan goes to war with the Afghanis in teh second Afghan war, and Ash is sent in as a spy. He and Juli live in Kabul as the war goes on and as the people in the Embassy are killed. After this Ash's ties with the rest ofthe world are broken and Ash and Juli set out to start a new life in a hidden valley somewhere.
10/10 absolutely my favorite book, it is exacty the right mixture of romance, adventure, history and real life.
It is about 950 pages, but that is nice because it goes into detail and the characters are nice and round.