Special Offers see all
More at Powell'sRecently Viewed clear list
Original Essays | September 9, 2013
4 comments
|
 
$3.95
List price:
Used Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsEast of the Sunby Julia Gregson
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In the rich tradition of The Jewel in the Crown and The Far Pavilions, this sweeping international bestseller from a major new talent captures the lives of three young women on their way to a new life in india during the 1920s.
Chosen as a Richard and Judy Summer Reading Pick before its UK publication in 2008, East of the Sun was guaranteed to be a bestseller before it even appeared, so magnificent was its scope and literary voice. Graced with lavish detail and a penetrating sensitivity, this is historical fiction at its greatest. As the Kaisar-I-Hind weighs anchor for Bombay in the autumn of 1928, its passengers ponder their fate in a distant land. They are part of the "Fishing Fleet"--the name given to the legions of English women who sail to India each year in search of husbands, heedless of the life that awaits them. The inexperienced chaperone Viva Holloway has been entrusted to watch over three unsettling charges. There's Rose, as beautiful as she is naïve, who plans to marry a cavalry officer she has met a mere handful of times. Her bridesmaid, Victoria, is hell-bent on losing her virginity en route before finding a husband of her own. And shadowing them all is the malevolent presence of a disturbed schoolboy named Guy Glover. From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites to the poverty of Tamarind Street, from the sooty streets of London to the genteel conversation of the Bombay Yacht Club, East of the Sun takes us back to a world we hardly understand but yearn to know. This is a book that has it all: glorious detail, fascinating characters, and masterful storytelling. Review:"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. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Synopsis:In the rich tradition of "The Jewel in the Crown" and "The Far Pavilions" comes this sweeping international bestseller from a major new talent that captures the lives of three young women on their way to a new life in India during the 1920s.
About the AuthorJulia Gregson has worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent in the U.K., Australia, and the U.S. Her novel East of the Sun was a major bestseller in the U.K. and won the Romantic Novel of the Year Prize and the Le Prince Maurice Prize there. Her short stories have been published in collections and magazines and read on the radio. She lives in Monmouthshire, England.
What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Product Details
Other books you might likeRelated SubjectsFeatured Titles » Bestsellers Featured Titles » Literature Featured Titles » Miscellaneous Award Winners Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z Fiction and Poetry » Literature » Sale Books Fiction and Poetry » Romance » Historical
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Follow us on...
|
||||||||||
