Shaking the Money Tree

The Pagoda Tree, Claire Scobie tells the story of Maya, a devadasi belonging to the Brhadeswara temple of Tanjore in the 18th century. Maya, descended from a family of poets and dancers, is dedicated to Lord Shiva as his bride and seems destined to be the courtesan of the Prince of Tanjore. But by the time Maya is ready to take her place in the court, the days of royal patronage are fading. The devadasis can no longer run their lives by auspicious dates and ancient traditions. Between the marauding Hyder Ali, the murderous English, and the money- lending Nawab of Arcot, the princely state of Tanjore crumbles, and the community of temple women crumbles with it.

Missionary Walter Sutcliffe first sees Maya as a child. He is a black- coated omen to Maya and her mother from the first, and the harm he does to her is unbearable. Far from becoming the rajdasi, she is reduced to living as mistress to a rich trader, and then to an Englishman. Her patron, Thomas Pearce’s character never quite takes shape. He is steady as a lover and as father to their little daughter, but also a corrupt servant of the East India Company. Scobie does not whitewash the crimes of colonialism. The title refers to the money tree lusted after by every white man with little to do at home. They shook it for all it was worth.

This is Scobie’s first novel, and her narrative arc loses some of its clarity when she opens it out of the world of the temple women. No other character is drawn as fully as Maya and the other devadasis. But Scobie draws on the insights of S. Muthiah, Nirmala Lakshman, V. Sriram, V. A. K. Ranga Rao and others for a book rich in detail. The ending is an outrage, but that is not Scobie’s fault. There’s no way to put a happy face on the liaisons between India and the Company.