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Available
Description
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.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
In 1928 three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a naive bride-to-be going to a strange land to be with a man she hardly knows, Victoria, her best friend eager to get away from her overbearing mother and have adventures and romance, and Viva, returning to her
Forging a friendship that will help them endure, we follow these three women as they experience life and India, from the British enclaves to the streets of povertry ridden Bombay.
A well written, engaging story with characters that are never picture-perfect but flawed, altogether real humans that I found myself caring about. I had my fingers crossed for a happy ending but life usually isn't tidy and East of the Sun, like real life, didn't have a tidy ending with everything done up in a fancy bow. Instead I was left with a satisfactory feeling that things ended as they should have.
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land of birth in search of her roots and ultimately herself.Forging a friendship that will help them endure, we follow these three women as they experience life and India, from the British enclaves to the streets of povertry ridden Bombay.
A well written, engaging story with characters that are never picture-perfect but flawed, altogether real humans that I found myself caring about. I had my fingers crossed for a happy ending but life usually isn't tidy and East of the Sun, like real life, didn't have a tidy ending with everything done up in a fancy bow. Instead I was left with a satisfactory feeling that things ended as they should have.
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LibraryThing member Sararush
Julia Gregson’s East of the Sun was an emotional read. It invoked boredom, annoyance, and frustration pretty quickly. The story is about three young women embarking to India. Rose is marrying a man she barely knows. Her best friend Tor is accompanying Rose officially as her bridesmaid but chiefly
We get the points of view of all these characters, as well as, Rose’s fiancé, Jack. None of the points of view differ much from the other. One would have easily sufficed considering the scant storyline. This is just one of the instances where Gregson denies her novel clarity in pursuit of complexity and high page count. The novel boasts hundreds of pages of pointless descriptions. Hairstyles, drinks, meals, shopping trips, parties are detailed by the girls adding nothing to the plot. At one point one of her characters even tells another, “less is more”, the irony is grating. And after suffering every description—nothing happens. Here are three girls unprepared for the harsh realities of India at a revolutionary time, and when something that can be considered plot (finally) materializes, its not only expected but only casually mentioned before we move on to more needless descriptions.
For the first time in my life I’m actually angry at an author for producing such a pointless timesuck, but perhaps this book is your type of thing, so here are some quotes to allow the novel to speak for itself:
The character Viva, an aspiring writer, describes the sea: “ The sea: long glistening hollows laced with creamy foam; broken ice creams, clamor, bang, smack of waves. Reptilian hiss of a ship as it glides through the sea.”
In another quote the girls approach the shoreline: “Together they looked out at a faint necklace of lights across a dark and crinkling sea. A foreign town where a foreign people were cleaning their teeth and washing up their supper dishes and thinking about going to bed.”
Gregson describes a dessert cart: “the pudding trolley arrived bearing lemon meringue pies and fruit jellies, an apple soufflé, ice creams and the Indian jublies, which she found a little sickly.”
If that sounds like something you can stomach, I can only interject that Gregson rambles on in such a manner for six hundred plus pages and I conclude by not recommending this book to anyone who hasn’t harmed me in some way.
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to secure a marriage of her own. And finally their chaperone, Viva, who returns to India to reclaim something of her past. We get the points of view of all these characters, as well as, Rose’s fiancé, Jack. None of the points of view differ much from the other. One would have easily sufficed considering the scant storyline. This is just one of the instances where Gregson denies her novel clarity in pursuit of complexity and high page count. The novel boasts hundreds of pages of pointless descriptions. Hairstyles, drinks, meals, shopping trips, parties are detailed by the girls adding nothing to the plot. At one point one of her characters even tells another, “less is more”, the irony is grating. And after suffering every description—nothing happens. Here are three girls unprepared for the harsh realities of India at a revolutionary time, and when something that can be considered plot (finally) materializes, its not only expected but only casually mentioned before we move on to more needless descriptions.
For the first time in my life I’m actually angry at an author for producing such a pointless timesuck, but perhaps this book is your type of thing, so here are some quotes to allow the novel to speak for itself:
The character Viva, an aspiring writer, describes the sea: “ The sea: long glistening hollows laced with creamy foam; broken ice creams, clamor, bang, smack of waves. Reptilian hiss of a ship as it glides through the sea.”
In another quote the girls approach the shoreline: “Together they looked out at a faint necklace of lights across a dark and crinkling sea. A foreign town where a foreign people were cleaning their teeth and washing up their supper dishes and thinking about going to bed.”
Gregson describes a dessert cart: “the pudding trolley arrived bearing lemon meringue pies and fruit jellies, an apple soufflé, ice creams and the Indian jublies, which she found a little sickly.”
If that sounds like something you can stomach, I can only interject that Gregson rambles on in such a manner for six hundred plus pages and I conclude by not recommending this book to anyone who hasn’t harmed me in some way.
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LibraryThing member whitreidtan
India has long held a fascination for me. Having had the good fortune to visit, it continues to intrigue me and so I often search out Indian-set novels. This particular novel was on my radar because it combines my interest in India with the genre of historical fiction so I was pleased as punch when
Viva Holloway is 25 and she has hired herself out as a chaperone to two other younger women and one teenaged boy in order to pay her own way back to India, the country of her birth and where she lost her family. Viva's charges, Rose, Tor and Guy become completely intertwined in her life both during the long days of sailing and once they get to India itself. Rose is going to be married to a British officer whom she has only known for a brief time. Her best friend, Tor, is going to be Rose's bridesmaid but she's also looking forward to slipping the stifling, unrealistic bonds of her mother. Troubled, young Guy is returning to India to be reunited with his parents after being expelled from his boarding school. Viva forges a friendship with her charges Rose and Tor and with Frank, the ship's doctor, when Guy has a violent episode while on the ship.
Once they land in India, all of their lives diverge and converge again in surprising ways. And the physical plot is far-reaching and wide-ranging. But the book is as much about the personal landscape as it is about British ex-pats in India and their role in a British Raj coming to a close. Gergson deftly examines the nature of friendship and secrets, expectations and the role of women, memory and the reality of the present. Each of the women has a different reason for traveling to India and responds to their situations in country in very different ways. Their circumstances highlight a wide variety of lives and yet they remain quintessentially British. The faint whiff of decay from the waning years of the Raj is fully evident throughout the novel but doesn't overwhelm the storyline. The main characters are well-rounded and appealing, even when the reader winces at their naivete. Superficially the novel is well-paced and compelling but it works on a deeper thematic level as well. Fans of historical fiction, women's literature, and Indian-set novels will all enjoy this grandiose addition to the shelves.
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my bookclub chose to read it. In the waning years of the British Raj, single women left England for India in search of husbands. They were called the "Fishing Fleet," and what they found in India was very different than what they left behind them. Gregson has taken this actual historical occurrence as her jumping off point for this sweeping novel.Viva Holloway is 25 and she has hired herself out as a chaperone to two other younger women and one teenaged boy in order to pay her own way back to India, the country of her birth and where she lost her family. Viva's charges, Rose, Tor and Guy become completely intertwined in her life both during the long days of sailing and once they get to India itself. Rose is going to be married to a British officer whom she has only known for a brief time. Her best friend, Tor, is going to be Rose's bridesmaid but she's also looking forward to slipping the stifling, unrealistic bonds of her mother. Troubled, young Guy is returning to India to be reunited with his parents after being expelled from his boarding school. Viva forges a friendship with her charges Rose and Tor and with Frank, the ship's doctor, when Guy has a violent episode while on the ship.
Once they land in India, all of their lives diverge and converge again in surprising ways. And the physical plot is far-reaching and wide-ranging. But the book is as much about the personal landscape as it is about British ex-pats in India and their role in a British Raj coming to a close. Gergson deftly examines the nature of friendship and secrets, expectations and the role of women, memory and the reality of the present. Each of the women has a different reason for traveling to India and responds to their situations in country in very different ways. Their circumstances highlight a wide variety of lives and yet they remain quintessentially British. The faint whiff of decay from the waning years of the Raj is fully evident throughout the novel but doesn't overwhelm the storyline. The main characters are well-rounded and appealing, even when the reader winces at their naivete. Superficially the novel is well-paced and compelling but it works on a deeper thematic level as well. Fans of historical fiction, women's literature, and Indian-set novels will all enjoy this grandiose addition to the shelves.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
Let me start by saying that it has taken me a long time to get around to writing this review because, although it was a May 2009 Early Review book, it didn't arrive in my mailbox until the end of April 2010. At that point, I put a number of other books ahead of it.
Overall, I enjoyed East of the
If you are truly interested in life in the British Raj, you might be better off reading Forster's novel. Another recommendation is The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru, which still remains perhaps my all-time favorite contemporary novel; it's brilliant. Still, East of the Sun made good escapist reading for the summer.
Overall, I enjoyed East of the
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Sun, although it was a bit romancey for my taste, and I've read a number of much better books about the British in India ca. the 1920s--one of them being, of course, A Passage to India. The young women here seem to echo Adela Quested in their ignorance of Indian culture and society, their hopes of marrying promising young men whom they barely know, and even their lack of self-knowlege. The characters are fairly well developed and the story generally engaging, if a bit longwinded.If you are truly interested in life in the British Raj, you might be better off reading Forster's novel. Another recommendation is The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru, which still remains perhaps my all-time favorite contemporary novel; it's brilliant. Still, East of the Sun made good escapist reading for the summer.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
A beautifully written and evocative perspective of the British Empire in the 1920s. Three women join the 'Fishing Fleet' of English girls looking for a husband in India: Rose, already promised to a soldier she met briefly at a party at home; Tor, packed off by her mother out of desperation; and
Viva is the lynchpin holding the story together, learning about her shattered childhood in India, but she can be far too prickly and introspective for the reader to bond with; naive Rose and ebullient Tor are not as enigmatic, but act and speak naturally. All three, however, portray the changing femininity of the era, from Rose's timid child bride to Viva's proud self-sufficiency.
India is the main focus and appeal of this novel - as with Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', the sights, smells and oppressive heat of the country leap off the page. There is a superficial beauty in the blue skies and magnificent flowers, as shown on the cover, but neither does Gregson shy away from the darker truth - extreme poverty, religious and racial tension, and the simmering violence waiting to boil over. Speaking through the bohemian and rather politically correct Viva, the colonial past is occasionally tempered with modern liberality, but the author's presentation of history is to be applauded.
A sensual and instructive journey, albeit with a safe destination (everybody gets their Happy Ever After). Enjoyable.
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Viva, sent to chaperone them on the voyage over. Julia Gregson presents them as distinctly individual characters with their own thoughts and voices, leaving behind the familiar and comfortable for new experiences abroad. Viva is the lynchpin holding the story together, learning about her shattered childhood in India, but she can be far too prickly and introspective for the reader to bond with; naive Rose and ebullient Tor are not as enigmatic, but act and speak naturally. All three, however, portray the changing femininity of the era, from Rose's timid child bride to Viva's proud self-sufficiency.
India is the main focus and appeal of this novel - as with Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children', the sights, smells and oppressive heat of the country leap off the page. There is a superficial beauty in the blue skies and magnificent flowers, as shown on the cover, but neither does Gregson shy away from the darker truth - extreme poverty, religious and racial tension, and the simmering violence waiting to boil over. Speaking through the bohemian and rather politically correct Viva, the colonial past is occasionally tempered with modern liberality, but the author's presentation of history is to be applauded.
A sensual and instructive journey, albeit with a safe destination (everybody gets their Happy Ever After). Enjoyable.
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LibraryThing member Litfan
Really great books pull you out of your own world and into someone else's-- and that's exactly what happens with "East of the Sun," which takes you on a whirlwind journey to India during the later years of the British occupation.
Elements of romance, suspense and mystery are woven into more
It is easy to care about the characters right from the beginning, and they become more multi-faceted as we get to know them through the course of the novel. The plot of the book is enthralling and I had that deliciously painful dilemma of wanting to keep going to find out what happens, and at the same time wanting to slow down so that it didn't end. It's a good summer read for those who want some meaning in their poolside literary travels. All in all a very captivating, satisfying read; highly recommended.
Elements of romance, suspense and mystery are woven into more
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significant themes, such as women's independence and the impact of colonization and abject poverty on India's people. The lives of the upper crust British are juxtaposed against those of orphaned Indian children; by addressing these themes in the novel Gregson ensures that her novel goes deeper than just a good page-turner.It is easy to care about the characters right from the beginning, and they become more multi-faceted as we get to know them through the course of the novel. The plot of the book is enthralling and I had that deliciously painful dilemma of wanting to keep going to find out what happens, and at the same time wanting to slow down so that it didn't end. It's a good summer read for those who want some meaning in their poolside literary travels. All in all a very captivating, satisfying read; highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member ForeignCircus
This powerful historical novel follows the lives of three British women travel to India in the late 1920: Rose, engaged to a handsome cavalry officer she barely knows; Tor, determined to find a husband of her own to escape a loveless home in England; and Viva, an impoverished orphan returning to
This was a truly wonderful novel that painted a vivid portrait of India in the last years of the British Raj. Extremely well-written, this novel managed to track a complicated cast of characters through an even more complicated world. The three women start out as almost stereotypical figures, but as the story unfolds so too do the depths of their characters. By the end of the novel, these women truly live and breathe.
I highly recommend this excellent addition to the historical fiction genre.
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the country of her birth in search of answers. As these women set out on their individual paths, they confront personal and political challenges that reshape the courses of their lives and forge unbreakable bonds between them.This was a truly wonderful novel that painted a vivid portrait of India in the last years of the British Raj. Extremely well-written, this novel managed to track a complicated cast of characters through an even more complicated world. The three women start out as almost stereotypical figures, but as the story unfolds so too do the depths of their characters. By the end of the novel, these women truly live and breathe.
I highly recommend this excellent addition to the historical fiction genre.
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LibraryThing member mhleigh
Viva Holloway needs to return to India, the country in which she lived as a child. She was sent to the United Kingdom after the deaths of her parents and sister, and now wants to return, partially to pick up the trunk of her parents' belongings that is still stored in Simla, but more so to try to
This is one book that I found difficult to put down. Although it is a bit heftier than absolutely necessary, at 600 pages, for the most part it kept moving well, Often when I come across a book that is told from multiple perspectives I find it difficult to stay engrossed with all the different characters - I will want to skip ahead to read about just the most interesting story and feel bored by other viewpoints. Gregson's strength is writing each of her characters' stories so well that they were each compelling in their own way. While each had natural ebbs and flows, they hooked the reader in and make it a treat to come back from more. My only complaint is that I wouldn't have minded if the schoolboy character had been written out entirely. He is more a means to an end in the story, but Gregson's strength is in her writing of the friendship of Viva, Rose, and Tor, as well as their potential mates. The rest is filler, but the core is fantastic.
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recapture the memories and joy of her early life, which she can feel getting further away all the time. In order to pay for her fair, she takes a job as a chaperone to three young people. Two are women who are part of the "Fishing Fleet" - single English women who are hopeful that the marriage market in India, where well brought up Englishwomen are relatively scarce, will work in their favor. One woman, Rose, has already met her husband to be, a grand total of five times, while the other, Tor, is simply looking for adventure and to get away from an overbearing mother. Viva's third charge is a troubled, unbalanced young man, kicked out of his boarding school and forced to return to his parents in India. The lives of these four people part and converge, each telling their own tale while also coming together to learn about life, friendship, and love.This is one book that I found difficult to put down. Although it is a bit heftier than absolutely necessary, at 600 pages, for the most part it kept moving well, Often when I come across a book that is told from multiple perspectives I find it difficult to stay engrossed with all the different characters - I will want to skip ahead to read about just the most interesting story and feel bored by other viewpoints. Gregson's strength is writing each of her characters' stories so well that they were each compelling in their own way. While each had natural ebbs and flows, they hooked the reader in and make it a treat to come back from more. My only complaint is that I wouldn't have minded if the schoolboy character had been written out entirely. He is more a means to an end in the story, but Gregson's strength is in her writing of the friendship of Viva, Rose, and Tor, as well as their potential mates. The rest is filler, but the core is fantastic.
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LibraryThing member SmithSJ01
This book is captivating. It is a slow unfurling read that can’t be rushed. If you haven’t been to India, Gregson’s stimulating narrative is going to awaken your senses. If you have been, especially to the places described, a wonderful memory awaits. It’s autumn 1928 and the Kaiser-i-Hind
Meet Rose, Victoria (Tor) and Viva. Rose is naïve and about to be married to man she hardly knows but is full of hope. Tor is happy to be away from her parents and her life and all she wants from her adventure is a husband of her own. Then there is Viva who isn’t as old as Rose and Tor’s family thinks she is yet still manages to secure a job as their chaperone. There are other significant characters along the way but these three women are the narrators, telling their story in their own way; learning about themselves and each other.
The book is fabulous, from beginning to end. Gregson introduces the reader to the three women in the beginning of the novel and the beginning of their adventure. Dialogue and narrative blend to give an enthralling story that is difficult to put down. I became quite involved in their ups and downs, willing them on with different parts of the lives, especially when they were making fools of themselves with the decisions they were making. I have a love of literature set in India and would have discovered this novel myself at some point but I was thrilled to see this as part of Richard & Judy’s summer read. Having read 6 out of the 8 novels so far, I have found this one to be by far the best. One I will continually recommend.
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is waiting to set sail for Bombay a land promising the start of three very different lives for the three young women we follow on board. Meet Rose, Victoria (Tor) and Viva. Rose is naïve and about to be married to man she hardly knows but is full of hope. Tor is happy to be away from her parents and her life and all she wants from her adventure is a husband of her own. Then there is Viva who isn’t as old as Rose and Tor’s family thinks she is yet still manages to secure a job as their chaperone. There are other significant characters along the way but these three women are the narrators, telling their story in their own way; learning about themselves and each other.
The book is fabulous, from beginning to end. Gregson introduces the reader to the three women in the beginning of the novel and the beginning of their adventure. Dialogue and narrative blend to give an enthralling story that is difficult to put down. I became quite involved in their ups and downs, willing them on with different parts of the lives, especially when they were making fools of themselves with the decisions they were making. I have a love of literature set in India and would have discovered this novel myself at some point but I was thrilled to see this as part of Richard & Judy’s summer read. Having read 6 out of the 8 novels so far, I have found this one to be by far the best. One I will continually recommend.
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LibraryThing member astridnr
Excellent book. Could not put it down. Loved the setting. Takes place during the time of British colonial rule in India and begins by tracing the ocean voyage of a small group of characters who travel from England to India. Loved the characters. Very deserving of the Le Prince Maurice Prize for
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literary love stories. Read this book if you long to be transported to another place and time. Themes include the political situation in India during the time of Gandhi, British civilian and military life in India, Indian customs, orphans, loss, and of course, love. Very interesting author. Cool bio. Someone I would like to meet. Show Less
LibraryThing member dudara
This novel is set in the late 1920s and features a young English lady, Rose, who is taking the boat to India to marry a young calvary officer who she barely knows. Accompanying her is her friend Tor, who failed to find a young man at the last debs season and is now hoping to find a partner in
The novel follows the tales of the three women, each with a distinct personality as they struggle in the face of tough relationships and the increasing political turmoil in India. It's a wonderful tale of friendship, and while romance and relationships are part of this story, they never really dominate the central theme of friendship. The scenery and settings in the book are fabulously described and capture an era that is now gone, that of British colonial India.
This is a great read - not too strenuous or tough, but still with meaning.
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India, where women are in short supply. They are chaperoned by Viva, who is returing to the India she left as a child in order to make sense of her family history.The novel follows the tales of the three women, each with a distinct personality as they struggle in the face of tough relationships and the increasing political turmoil in India. It's a wonderful tale of friendship, and while romance and relationships are part of this story, they never really dominate the central theme of friendship. The scenery and settings in the book are fabulously described and capture an era that is now gone, that of British colonial India.
This is a great read - not too strenuous or tough, but still with meaning.
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LibraryThing member DelennDax7
I have to admit that I wasn't that crazy about this book. I chose it because I'm interested in books set in other cultures and I like being able to "feel" what the characters are feeling, which didn't happen. The premise of the book is about a young woman traveling from London to India to be
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married to a service man she barely knows and she's accompanied by her best friend and a chaperone, who's rather young herself. And Viva, the chaperone, is also chaperoning a very troubled teenage boy. I wanted to sympathize with the characters, but, the "feeling" just wasn't there. It's easy reading and it's not hard to follow, but, it just felt so ho-hum. The author "stated" feelings - like, you knew that Rose was traveling to a foreign country without her parents and marrying an almost complete stranger, plus you knew that she knew nothing of marital relations, yet, I didn't feel how scared she must have been. Nor could I really get into Viva's financial concerns, yet I should have felt, "My gosh, what is she going to do for money in this foreign land??" The book is nearly 600 pages and I read 200 pages of it - if I wasn't excited about reading it by 200 pages, then I suspect it wouldn't have gotten much better. Show Less
LibraryThing member pak6th
3 women set sail for Bombay, one to be married to a dashing soldier, one to be the bridesmaid, and the third to be a chaperone. Viva, the chaperone, has another charge, a boy who has been dismissed from school and must return to India to live with his parents.She too is on a journey home. The year
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is 1928 and the political scene in India is changing to one of unrest. East of the Sun explores what happens to these young people as they land in India and make their way in an ancient culture they do not fully understand. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jennie_103
This book really took me back into the 1920s and the desperation of women to find a husband to save them from being forced to live with their (generally overbearing) mothers for the rest of their lives. It's also a lovely depiction of life on board a big cruise ship and then in India.
LibraryThing member kylenapoli
This was supposed to be an Early Reviewer but only just arrived! The narrative flowed so smoothly that I was very happy to go along and see what awaited these three likable women in India, even root for their success, but I also kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The end of The Raj is already
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visible on the horizon, and although Gregson does not ignore the politics at hand she ultimately doesn't let them impinge all that much on what is -- at heart -- a coming-of-age tale, a quest, and a romance. Sinister things float in and float away again. As a confection, it's far better than many of its peers, but I was sorry that it didn't reach for anything more. Show Less
LibraryThing member amandacb
I actually had to write the publisher since my first purchased copy was missing five chapters. Once that was settled, I enjoyed the story of these women who travel to India from England. They are naive and young and somewhat free-spirited, much like myself at their age. I also enjoyed reading about
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their various misadventures, although nothing they experienced was new or a surprise. Show Less
LibraryThing member dreskco
Interesting , but at times slow moving and or repetitive
LibraryThing member bachaney
Julia Gregson's "East of the Sun" follows three young English women to India in 1928. Rose is set to be married to Jack, a young army officer. Tor, is hoping to find a husband to escape her awful mother. And Viva is returning to the country where she spent her youth, looking for adventure and
This book is really a page turner, and pulls you in right from the first chapter. Although the book captures the stories of all three women, it is mostly about Viva, who's complicated life makes for fascinating reading as she fights her instincts and emotions to make peace with herself in India. The whole novel is richly drawn, and I felt like I could see all of the different settings as the women move around the Indian subcontinent. Gregson also does a wonderful job of mixing in the larger societal context of the time--you get a sense of the poverty and political unrest in India, and how it effects the British expats running the country.
If you're interested in India, or in the experience of British expats, I would recommend this book to you. Or if you're just looking for an interesting story of women's lives, this is a good one!
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hoping to quiet the ghosts of her family members who died in India long ago. Over nearly 600 pages these women find love, danger, excitement but most of all friendship, as they transition from young women into adults, all as Britain's imperial power begins to wind down in a bittersweet way. This book is really a page turner, and pulls you in right from the first chapter. Although the book captures the stories of all three women, it is mostly about Viva, who's complicated life makes for fascinating reading as she fights her instincts and emotions to make peace with herself in India. The whole novel is richly drawn, and I felt like I could see all of the different settings as the women move around the Indian subcontinent. Gregson also does a wonderful job of mixing in the larger societal context of the time--you get a sense of the poverty and political unrest in India, and how it effects the British expats running the country.
If you're interested in India, or in the experience of British expats, I would recommend this book to you. Or if you're just looking for an interesting story of women's lives, this is a good one!
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LibraryThing member karenlisa
East of the Sun By Julia Gregson. In the late 1920's, many English girls searching for husbands (before they are considered spinsters at the ripe old age of 19!) travel to India where the English men outnumber the women and are considered a worthy catch! (these girls are called the Fishing Fleet!)
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East of the Sun features Rose, beautiful, sweet and about to marry said English man, Tor, her life long friend accompanying her for the wedding, Viva, their chaperone, (not much older than them) searching for clues about her childhood and deceased family and the unlikely shipmate Guy Glover, an extremely troubled teenager that Viva is also chaperoning to see his parents in India. The ship drama is enticing and only the beginning of their journey through their growing friendships, romances and mishaps. Their life over the next year in India is detailed, sordid and colorful. I loved the characters and the way the story completely immerses the reader in that time period. I have always had an affinity for India and English novels so this was a great mix for me. It is a long read (almost 600) but I truly enjoyed every moment. Show Less
LibraryThing member fordbarbara
Good, but not great. Liked the descriptions of India but that was not strong. It was strong in the telling of the friendship of women, how what you don't say can be harmful, both to yourself and to relationships, and how desparate women were to find a husband when that was what they were expected
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to do or be considered a failure. Like it. And would give it to my mother to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ashmolean1
This is a thoroughly absorbing novel on a par with Passage To India and Jewel In the Crown. Anyone who enjoys reading about India in the Colonial days will love reading about the journey of three English women as they travel to India, find romance and try to adapt to life their. I was supposed to
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get a free copy of this but it never came. i read it anyway! Show Less
LibraryThing member bookmagic
East of the Sun is an amazing novel that first takes place aboard a ship bound for India and then in Bombay and various other parts of India. In 1928, three young women head to India for different reasons. Rose is engaged to be married to a cavalry officer, Jack, whom she barely knows. Tor, is her
And then there is Viva, headed to India, where she lived as a child to pick up a trunk that belonged to her now deceased parents. Viva acts as chaperone to Rose and Tor as a way to get her passage paid to India. Viva is also chaperone to Guy, a disturbed sixteen year old boy, kicked out of boarding school and being sent to live with his parents.
Rose is homesick for her parents and unhappy in her marriage but keeps this to herself and tries for the best. Tor wants never to go home and to desperately find a husband after a failed romance and to travel and have fun. Viva longs for adventure, independence, to be a writer and to be brave. The stories of these young women are set against the backdrop of British-occupied India, in the time of Gandhi, when the people of India want to rule their own country. Through Tor, living with a wealthy acquaintance of her mother's, we see the rich socialites and through Viva, working at an orphanage, we see the poverty and slums of the cities. When the girls' travel, the author writes vividly descriptive passages of the countryside that made me long for travel.
The story has romance, mystery, humor, social commentary, friendship, and self-discovery and is never slow. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this as a must-read.
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best friend and bridesmaid, and is being sent by her mother after failing to secure a husband during the London season, to try her hand during the season in India. "Most come after the London season is over and where, presumably they have fallen at the first fence of that glorified marriage market. India, where men of their class outnumber women by three to one, will be their last chance to find a husband"And then there is Viva, headed to India, where she lived as a child to pick up a trunk that belonged to her now deceased parents. Viva acts as chaperone to Rose and Tor as a way to get her passage paid to India. Viva is also chaperone to Guy, a disturbed sixteen year old boy, kicked out of boarding school and being sent to live with his parents.
Rose is homesick for her parents and unhappy in her marriage but keeps this to herself and tries for the best. Tor wants never to go home and to desperately find a husband after a failed romance and to travel and have fun. Viva longs for adventure, independence, to be a writer and to be brave. The stories of these young women are set against the backdrop of British-occupied India, in the time of Gandhi, when the people of India want to rule their own country. Through Tor, living with a wealthy acquaintance of her mother's, we see the rich socialites and through Viva, working at an orphanage, we see the poverty and slums of the cities. When the girls' travel, the author writes vividly descriptive passages of the countryside that made me long for travel.
The story has romance, mystery, humor, social commentary, friendship, and self-discovery and is never slow. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this as a must-read.
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LibraryThing member Clara53
A beautifully written saga... It reminded me of Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet", though not of such monumental and epic proportions as the latter. A very compelling story of three young women whose lives unpredictably change with their arrival to India in 1928 (under British rule but already
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stirring for independence). Show Less
LibraryThing member TheoClarke
Three young women bond on the sea voyage in the 1920s to the Raj where they all seek marriage. Julia Gregson is no Edith Wharton but she has a warm wit and her characters are credible and her protagonists likeable. The alien discomforts of India and the disconnection between the colonists and the
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indigenous population are conveyed as effectively as the young women's fear: fear of failure and the more acute fear in the face of the violence of political agitation. Show Less
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
This was an excellent book in so many ways. The characters were superbly well drawn - they sprang to life right from the first page - and the dialogue was highly convincing (loved the use of 'balloon' as an adjective!).
Though I have never been to India, thanks to this book I feel as though I have.
The main problem I had with the book was the plot strand involving Guy - despite arguably supplying the 'action' in the story, he just seemed to me like an unwanted distraction from the adventures of the other characters, and the reasons surrounding his behaviour were always hard to understand. Also, the on-off romance with the doctor was good in parts, but towards the end the plot seemed to writhe around in an attempt to extract every last drop of emotion, however unrealistic, before performing the necessary contortions to ensure a suitable ending.
All in all a great start, just lost it a bit at the end. I would definitely read more by this very talented author.
Though I have never been to India, thanks to this book I feel as though I have.
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Painting a vivid picture of the closing stages of empire, it depicts the upper class colonial twits and the discontented native population equally well.The main problem I had with the book was the plot strand involving Guy - despite arguably supplying the 'action' in the story, he just seemed to me like an unwanted distraction from the adventures of the other characters, and the reasons surrounding his behaviour were always hard to understand. Also, the on-off romance with the doctor was good in parts, but towards the end the plot seemed to writhe around in an attempt to extract every last drop of emotion, however unrealistic, before performing the necessary contortions to ensure a suitable ending.
All in all a great start, just lost it a bit at the end. I would definitely read more by this very talented author.
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Awards
Romantic Novel of the Year Award (Winner — 2009)