This is an utterly captivating story of three young British women in search of freedom and love in 1920s India, but it also provides a wonderful insight into a now vanished world. It’s a book that will ensnare you quickly and hold you in its grasp with its strong plot line, vivid portrayal of its characters, excellent dialogue and a strong sense of time and place. A truly compelling and thoroughly satisfying read.
Autumn 1928. The Kaiser-i-Hind is en route to Bombay. In Cabin D38, Viva Holloway, an inexperienced chaperone, is beginning to feel as though she's made a mistake. Her advert in The Lady has resulted in three unsettling young charges to be escorted to India.
Rose, a beautiful, dangerously naive English girl, is about to be married to the cavalry officer she has met a handful of times. Victoria, her bridesmaid, is determined to lose her virginity en route before finding a husband of her own. And overshadowing all three, the dangerously malevolent presence of Guy Glover.
But nothing frightens Viva as much as her real reasons for the voyage: firstly to lead an independent life, husband-less life as a writer, and secondly, to confront her own explosive past.
Three potential Memsahibs with a multitude of reasons for leaving their homeland - but the cargo of hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.
From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites, to the ragged orphans on Tamarind Stree, EAST OF THE SUN is an utterly engaging novel that will captivate readers everywhere.
Julia Gregson is the prize-winning author of three novels, one book of non-fiction, and several short stories. Her novel, EAST OF THE SUN, was chosen for the Richard and Judy TV Book Club and became a SUNDAY TIMES bestseller in the UK. It won Romantic Novel of the Year and the Prince Maurice Prize and has since been translated into more than twenty languages. Previously a journalist, for the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, THE TIMES, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, and ROLLING STONE in the USA, she is married and lives in Wales.
