Farrell introduces us gradually to a large cast of characters as he paints
a vivid portrait of the Victorians' daily routines that are accompanied by
heat, boredom, class-consciousness and the pursuit of genteel pastimes
intended for cooler climates. Even the siege begins slowly, with
disquieting news of massacres in cities far away. When Krishnapur itself is
finally attacked, the Europeans withdraw inside the grounds of the
Residency where very soon conditions begin to deteriorate: food and water
run out, disease is rampant, people begin to go a little mad. Soon the very
proper British are reduced to eating insects and consorting across class
lines. Farrell's descriptions of life inside the Residency are
simultaneously horrifying and blackly humorous.