East of the Sun
A Novel
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4.4 • 69 Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
From award-winning author Julia Gregson comes a sweeping historical novel set in colonial India, following three young English women whose journey to the Raj in the 1920s will change their lives forever.
As the Kaisar-i-Hind sets sail for Bombay in the autumn of 1928, its passengers are bound for an unfamiliar world. Among them are the women of the so-called Fishing Fleet—Englishwomen sent abroad in search of suitable husbands, often with little understanding of the lives awaiting them. Charged with supervising her young companions, the inexperienced chaperone Viva Holloway watches over three very different travelers: Rose, breathtakingly beautiful and dangerously naïve, engaged to a cavalry officer she barely knows; her bold bridesmaid Victoria, determined to claim her independence before marriage; and the unsettling presence of Guy Glover, a troubled schoolboy whose shadow looms over the voyage.
From glittering parties hosted by Bombay’s elite to the harsh realities of Tamarind Street, from foggy London streets to the refined rituals of the Bombay Yacht Club, this richly detailed novel evokes a vanished world of empire, ambition, romance, and reckoning. Lush, atmospheric, and deeply human, East of the Sun is historical fiction at its most transporting.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Gregson bows in America with her fast-paced second novel, an absorbing international period drama concerning three young Englishwomen and a troubled boy journeying to India in the late 1920s. The eldest at 25, Viva Holloway is an orphan hoping to retrieve her lost parents' personal effects; she's paying her way by chaperoning three younger travelers. Rose Wetherby is going to India to be married; Victoria "Tor" Sowerby is Rose's bridesmaid; and 16-year-old Guy Glover is returning home after getting expelled from school for stealing. Throughout, narrative shifts reveal the travelers' perspectives and fears: Viva is haunted by a childhood and family she barely remembers; Rose is growing increasingly nervous about how little she knows of her fianc ; and Tor is eager, after a disappointing deb season in London, to find a husband of her own and avoid returning to England. Guy's strange behavior makes it clear he's unstable, and before long, he's assaulted a member of a powerful Indian family, setting off a frightening chain of events for both himself and Viva. Gregson's rich imagery, strong characters and gripping plot make this a resonant page-turner.
Customer Reviews
A gorgeous read….
A wondrous look at three friends poised on the brink of true adulthood, learning about love & friendship in the midst of India’s political & social upheaval. Really really enjoyed this book.
East of the sun
This book pulls you in and does not let you go. I read it the summer of 2009 and I am still trying to find another bit of fiction as well written.