Book Review: An ice factory, the great famine and the mystery of missing Dalit workers
Summary
B Jeyamohan’s White Elephant follows Captain Aiden Byrne’s investigation into missing Dalit workers at a Tudor Ice House factory during the Great Famine of 1876–78. The review explores the novel’s portrait of colonial exploitation, labour protest, and the moral tensions of famine-era Madras.
Key Points
- White Elephant is a 2026 English translation of B Jeyamohan’s Tamil novel Vellai Yaanai, set during the Great Famine of 1876–78.
- The story centers on Captain Aiden Byrne’s search for missing Dalit workers at the Tudor Ice House factory in colonial Madras.
- The review highlights the novel’s themes of labour exploitation, caste hierarchy, protest, and colonial modernity.
- Priyamvada Ramkumar’s translation is praised for carrying Jeyamohan’s Tamil moral imagination into English.
