Product Description

An utterly captivating story of three young British women in search of freedom and love in 1920s India

Synopsis

Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naïve bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn t be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom. Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
"a rich historical novel...a taut, never predictable plot" (audio edition) SUNDAY TIMES "The Orion staff gave this beautifully written book an overwhelming thumbs up, and it isn't hard to see why" COUNTRY LIFE "a finely written story full of characters you can care about...highly descriptive and persuasively told" THE LADY

Review
"a rich historical novel...a taut, never predictable plot" (audio edition) (SUNDAY TIMES )

"The Orion staff gave this beautifully written book an overwhelming thumbs up, and it isn't hard to see why" (COUNTRY LIFE )

"a finely written story full of characters you can care about...highly descriptive and persuasively told" (THE LADY )

Synopsis
Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn t be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom. Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the 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 Street, EAST OF THE SUN is an utterly engaging novel that will captivate readers everywhere.

Customer Reviews

Great escapism.....
An easy read that suited me as a holiday choice - a rich, narrative that surprised me really, I even found myself checking out what the flowers and places so well described were on the web!!!! You become carried away with the lives of the girls and their travels, their naivety and dreams. Not stunning or anything profound, but most definately enjoyable and read-worthy.

Mediocre
This book relates the story of three girls travelling to, and consequently living in, India in the 1920's. In the main this is a very gentle story, each girl experiencing a different aspect of life in the subcontinent. I would describe this as a romantic novel, a genre I do not usually subscribe to so perhaps, understandably, I found myself wanting something more gritty to happen and felt the author could easily have done this. There are a few loose ends which aren't explained so one has to form one's own conclusions. It wasn't a great book by any means but maybe okay for an easy holiday read and I am sure fans of this type of novel will enjoy it as it is well written with some nice descriptions of the various locations.

Easy read, not thought provoking
I was looking forward to this book but was disappointed. I found it slow and a little dreary. Very little happens. Not even a great love story. So much of the book was taken up on the boat to India, I kept wondering if they were ever going to get there. After reading so many other gripping books recently, I felt hard done by. I perservered and although it had a pleasant ending, although somewhat predictable, I kept thinking "is that it?" Very easy to read but not at all exciting.