Amitav Ghosh.

 The Glass Palace Amitav Ghosh. Like his previous book, In an Antique Land, The Glass Palace is about Indians living in other countries. It starts with the British invasion of Burma in the 1880's and follows a young Indian boy, Rajkumar and his rise from poverty to wealth. Set in Malaysia, Burma and India, the first part of the book concentrates on a small set of characters over a relatively short period of time. The second half of the book moves faster, across most of the 20th century, and moves the novel from an adventure story to thoughts on imperialism, nationalism and family. I've traveled in both India and Burma, and  Ghosh's descriptions vividly recall these countries. Some sections echo The Jewel in the Crown, with the important difference that this story concentrates on the views of the Indians and Burmese, with few British characters, and no named Japanese ones. The book is not without its set pieces, though, and the section on elephant teak logging is fascinating on its own. A great book, well written, hard to put down.

In an Antique Land Story of an Indian student adrift in  a foreign culture - Egypt.  While dealing with his own problems he becomes immersed in the story of Indian traders in Egypt centuries before.