I requested because I love her books and I wasn't disappointment. Rose Tremain is so good at presenting her characters, warts and all, so they stand clearly before you, yet she does this in so few words. I loved this from beginning to end.

Once again, Rose Tremain has produced a beautifully moving and rich novel. Initially the multiple story lines feel a little jarring, but eventually build into a powerful thread of storytelling that explores the way people seek freedom, power, beauty and love.

The Victorian world - from the well-to-do streets of Bath to London's Bohemian salons, to the jungle of Borneo - is conjured so remarkably, and its characters are so powerfully constructed, from fierce and fearless Jane to the gentlemanly doctor whose anger writhes beneath the surface.

Wonderful storytelling.

You can't always get what you want but it's how you live with this knowledge that is important. That about sums up the whole story of the novel but when it's written by Rose Tremain it becomes so much more. I am a Tremain fan since Restauration because I simply love her writing which is radiant and full of beautiful imagery. She is a master story teller, always focused on humanity's foibles, but in a good way as she makes the reader understand her characters and their motives. To find your destiny is the hardest thing to do and so often it. is not what you expected. Excellent read!

This book is a brilliant multi-layered story.

Taking us from the genteel tea rooms of Bath to the jungles of Borneo via the slums of Dublin and glorious Paris.

Islands of Mercy is a book which explores the nature of love with well drawn, complicated characters.

Rose Tremain is a master storyteller.

Rose Tremain is a genius storyteller. In ‘Islands of Mercy’ she gives us yet another multi-layered narrative exploring, both literally and metaphorically, the importance of understanding who we are and our place in the world. From the jungles of Borneo to London’s relaxed soirées, from arak and rice served in a mud hut to Victoria sponge in the tea rooms of Bath, from a slum in Dublin to a rajah’s palace, the author explores many types of love, the importance of generosity of spirit and the need for mercy in a world full of greed and ignorance.
Set in 1865, we are introduced to Bath through the delightful Clorinda Morrissey, an Irish emigrant who has set up a tea shop in the city. Throughout the novel, Tremain uses her as an example of someone who, despite past suffering, has the strength of character to do what she must to protect those whom she loves. This includes the ‘Angel of the Baths’ Jane, nurse and daughter of the renowned Dr William Adeane. Jane escapes to her artist aunt’s bohemian London home after refusing a marriage proposal from her father’s sidekick, Dr Valentine Ross. There she falls outrageously in love with the beautiful Julietta and becomes one of the latter’s many ‘beauties’, albeit a particularly special one. Nevertheless, after a trip to Paris during which she grows even more obsessed with her lover, she is persuaded to reconsider Ross’s proposal when she returns to Bath.
On the other side of the world in Borneo, Valentine’s younger brother explorer Edmund is lost in the jungle. Whilst the English ‘rajah’ Sir Ralph Savage worries for his safety, his Malay servant and lover, Leon, is secretly delighted that the young man has disappeared. When Valentine boards a ship bound for the East in search of his brother, his quest reveals far more to him about himself than he could have possibly imagined back in England.
This is a wonderful novel. As ever, Tremain’s research is impeccable. Her knowledge of the times is woven into her storytelling so naturally that the reader is immediately immersed in the worlds of nineteenth century Bath, London, Paris, Sarawak and Dublin. And, further back in time, the title of this novel brings to mind Shakespeare’s suggestion that, ‘The quality of mercy is not strained./It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven…’ Whilst ‘Islands of Mercy’ acknowledges the exploration necessary to truly understand the self, it also suggests that it is in still, quiet moments that we may learn the most.
My thanks to NetGalley and Chatto & Windus for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain:

The novel follows Jane Adeane, a young woman working as a nurse in Bath in the mid 19th century. Jane is only too aware that she is unusual and different (not only is she extraordinarily tall, but she is also attracted to women), and she is torn between a female lover and the pressure to conform to convention and marry a respectable doctor. But Jane believes she is destined for other things.
Meanwhile, Sir Ralph Savage, a British ‘rajah’ in Borneo, is battling demons of his own. Compromised by his transgressive passions, and the invasive power of the rainforest which continually thwarts his schemes, Savage must fight to survive. His and Jane’s interconnected stories take them from the genteel tearooms of Bath, to the steamy jungles of Borneo, via Dublin and Paris. It is a sumptuous, intricately told tale, full of beautiful imagery and complicated characters. With ‘Islands of Mercy’, Tremain has shown yet again what a master storyteller she is.