Review ~ Before the Rains by Dinah Jefferies

Penguin - Viking
January 23rd 2017

What's it all about...

1930, Rajputana, India. Since her husband's death, 28-year-old photojournalist Eliza's only companion has been her camera. When the British Government send her to an Indian princely state to photograph the royal family, she's determined to make a name for herself.

But when Eliza arrives at the palace she meets Jay, the Prince's handsome, brooding brother. While Eliza awakens Jay to the poverty of his people, he awakens her to the injustices of British rule. Soon Jay and Eliza find they have more in common than they think. But their families - and society - think otherwise. Eventually they will have to make a choice between doing what's expected, or following their hearts and doing what's expected.

What did I think about it ...

When photo-journalist Eliza Fraser arrives back in India ostensibly to photograph life as it happens in an Indian palace, she is unprepared for the effect that returning to the India of her childhood will have on her adult life. Old memories are evoked and new awakenings come to the fore in this heart-warming tale of mystery, intrigue and romance.

The golden days of the British Raj in India are on the decline and there is unrest and distrust, not just amongst the local population, but also from those British officials who seek to cling on to rule regardless of the effect that this has on local people, whose established way of life is challenged at every level. Very soon, Eliza finds that she is at the centre of a conspiracy, which will, not just place her in great danger, but which will also take her life in a whole new direction.

The author's vision of 1930s India, with all of its mystique and colour comes alive in vibrant detail. The inside of the Maharajah's palace glitters and shines. Its opulence and faded glory is in direct contrast to life in rural districts where archaic customs still flourish in dark shadows. Throughout the story, Eliza's love affair with India is sympathetically told, and yet, it is in her burgeoning relationship with the Maharajah’s brother, Jayant Singh Rathore, where Before the Rains really starts to come alive. Beautifully evoking time and place, the story is filled with intriguing people. I loved the strong female characters, particularly Jayant’s mother, Laxmi who epitomised all of the grandeur and elegance of a fading empire, and of the delicate beauty of Indi who had secrets of her own.

Dinah Jefferies is fast becoming one of those authors who I know will never let me down, either by her story telling ability, or of my emotional connection to her beautifully written stories. 

Best Read With... A cup  Masala Chai and a spicy lentil fritter..

About the Author 

More about Dinah can be found on her website by clicking here

Or follow on Twitter @DinahJefferies

Visit on Facebook

You an read all about Dinah's research for Before the Rains by clicking here

My thanks to Josie at Penguin for my review copy of Before the Rains.

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By coincidence my crochet work in progress perfectly matched the book cover

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Review ~ Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe

Viking
June 2016

A bit of blurb..

This is the story of Lizzie Vogel, a 15 year old girl who finds herself working in an old people's home in the 1970s. The place is in chaos and it's not really a suitable job for a schoolgirl: she'd only gone for the job because it seemed too exhausting to commit to being a full-time girlfriend or a punk, and she doesn't realise there's a right and a wrong way to get someone out of a bath.

Through a cast of wonderful characters, from the assertively shy Nurse who only communicates via little grunts to the very attractive son of the Chinese take away manager, Paradise Lodge is the story of being very young, and very old, and the laughter, and the tears, in between.

My thoughts about the book..

I was really intrigued by the premise of this story of Lizzie Vogel, a feisty fifteen year old who despite everyone's best efforts to get her to attend school to do her O'Level examinations, Lizzie seems to find respite, and extra pocket money, by working in a local old people's nursing home.

Setting the novel in the 1970s was inspired as it allowed the author rather more poetic license, as to have a fifteen year old working in a nursing home with today's stringent CQC/CRB checks just wouldn't be allowed. Thus this literary freedom gave the novel its energy and I really enjoyed going behind the scenes at Paradise Lodge. The chaos of the place and its unusual ethos of elderly care made me laugh out loud in places as it was eerily reminiscent of my own experience of working in a nursing home in the 1990s. It would seem that time doesn't always elicit change. The story of Lizzie's experience with the false teeth is a story which has circulated throughout my nursing career and it still brings a smile to my face when I hear it recounted.

The author has done an excellent job of recreating a more innocent time. Lizzie's interaction with the old people in the nursing home was especially poignant and her relationship with her own family, which was rather secondary to the story, was well handled. Some of the scenarios that Lizzie finds herself in were rather over the top, but this, I think, is what gives the story its rather naive charm. The story has equal light and shade, laughter and tears and I enjoyed reading it very much.

Best read with...a bowl of chicken soup and a slice of bread and butter..

More about the author can be found on her website by clicking here 

Follow the author on Twitter @ninastibbe

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