This is a historical novel set in the early 20th century and the beginning of the 21th one. It is not a romance story although the main characters are women. It will also be an interesting read for men.

English Margaret has an idyllic childhood growing up on an English country estate pre-world war 1. She plays with her two sisters in the large gardens and has loving parents. Then the war destroys all that and Margaret has to deal with her feeling of guilt. When she is a grown up woman she follows her husband to India thinking she can restore her childhood there starting a family of her own on his country estate. But then something happens that forces her again to choose between herself and someone else's life.

This is a novel about guilt and forgiveness. It returns in many forms. Not being able to forgive yourself, not being able to forgive the other or forgiving someone who does not deserve it.

It is certainly not a lightweight read that you will forget the moment you finished it. It made me think of what my friend Lisan said decades ago: "You should forgive but not forget". What also kept me musing was the ending. Will you feel happy that someone kept loving you or would you regret having wasted your whole life by not forgiving? According to friend Marc it is an economical theory that people tend to value mostly the last-minute good thing but I would have been devastated by regret.

The story is told from the point of view of three people: Margaret, an Indian woman around ten years her junior and her granddaughter.

If you liked the movie "Atonement" you probably will love this novel as well.

I can highly recommend it. A 5 stars out of 5.

PS I almost forgot: Margaret becomes a famous painter and that is reflected by the language in the novel. Often colours are used to describe a person, a feeling or a situation. Very well done.

A very interesting story mixing the story of Vanessa Bell, a painter and sister of Virginia Wolfe, to a girl in England who finds a painting, and an Indian girl in a village far far away.

The stories don’t intertwine fully until the end but it’s the journey along the way which really matters. The writing is evocative, set at the heart of an Indian village. Sadly the names of villages or even areas of India are few and far between so it’s not as easy to visualize where the story is taking place. Having said that, the description of flower, aromas, customs and the community are lovely and evocative. The author explains she made up the villages to be able to mix all the ingredients of the Indian culture she wanted. Well, it’s a very colourful and interesting palette!

It was interesting to read about Sati - the practice of a wife sacrificing herself on her dead husband's funeral pyre. That added historical and cultural intrigue to it. Thank goodness it’s been banned! But in villages such as the ones in the book we are told it can still go on.

The story of the painting was also very well done and I found the mix of characters and the mystery of the painting interesting. England and India were two very distinct settings and a linked mystery through a piece of art was a nice touch.

Renita can always be guaranteed to write evocative and mysterious novels. I would have liked more detail of the settings as she excels at this in my eyes.

D’Silva is normally one of my favorite historical fiction writers, but this story didn’t quite measure up to her usual standards. The book parallels the lives of two women, Margaret in England and Archana in India, who don’t meet until quite late in the book when Margaret moves to India with her new husband. The usual character development and sense of place that normally fills D’Silva’s novels was missing here and the fact that the main characters don’t interact until so late in the book took away time that the two women could have formed a stronger and more believable bond

This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I kept reading it even though I was so tempted to give up.

This is a lovely historical novel. I felt truly engrossed with the characters, and felt connected to their dilemmas and the beautiful historical setting. I very much recommend the book to everyone that enjoys fascinating settings and interesting storylines.

Lovely ~ Touching ~ Affecting

tl;dr: love across the generations with so many complications

Renita D'Silva is new to me, but now i will look for her. Her writing and plotting is so strong, I am surprised she isn't as well known as Kearsley or Williams. This historical novel (romance) is wonderfully descriptive. You feel as if you have been transported. The story tells of a granddaughter's quest to find a woman in India, Archana. I liked how the author didn't simplify the characters, and allowed their differences to shine. She creates a complicated, compelling story of how actions can have ramifications that go past your lifetime. This book was touching but not trite, heartrending by not histrionic. I loved this book.

4.5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.


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