Dishonored

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY OCT 2, 1996

Set in England and India, British writer Barrett's third novel, a melodramatic tale of a vendetta spanning several generations, is her debut on these shores. In 1857, arrogant Colonel Reginald Mills, enraged when his wife is killed in an anti-colonialist Indian riot, mistakenly blames one family in particular for her death. Jeweler Indrajit Rai and his son Jagat are both imprisoned; the family's house is ransacked by British troops; the father dies in jail; Jagat escapes and vows to avenge these outrages. The narrative next jumps to swinging mid-1960s London--evoked with lush nostalgia and steamy prose--where the colonel's great-grandson, Major Phillip Mills, an opportunistic lecher, woos sensible art teacher Jane Bennet while carrying on with his unstable, obsessively jealous mistress, Suzanna Harvey, who's married to a ruthless, murderous, ambitious homosexual politician. Phillip takes a post in India, where his bride, Jane, has an affair with Ramesh Rai, Oxford-educated scion of the wronged Indian family still seeking revenge. Jane dies giving birth to Ramesh's daughter, Indu, who is raised in England by her grandfather. Knowing she's half-Indian, but deceived about the manner of her parents' death and unaware of the oath of vengeance, Indu is lured back to India in 1989, where cryptic verses, hidden treasure and murderous thugs complicate the path to true love. Barrett is a more than competent writer who spins a brisk, involving but not terribly credible story.