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Olivia and Jai #2

by Rebecca Ryman

Wonderful read!

Genres: Historical Fiction, India, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Historical Romance

959 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Rebecca Ryman is the pen name of an Indian writer, Asha Bhanjdeo, who only wrote three books under this name: Olivia & Jai, The Veil of Illusions (the sequel of Olivia & Jai) and Shalimar. She died in Calcutta in 2003.

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Worthy sequel to Olivia and Jai, although it's heavier on the history and lighter on the romance. The Veil of Illusion begins about 13 years after the Sepoy Rebellion and the massacre at Bibighar when Jai Raventhorne was accused of participating in and presumably hanged (or was he?) for his crimes. Olivia mourns her beloved Jai and she has struggled over the years to prove his innocence. Their children Amos and Maya bear the burdens of mixed parentage and stigma of their father's alleged heinous activities. Maya meets and falls in love with a high born Englishman, Christian Pendlebury, much to the chagrin of his parents newly arrived from England. Also involved in Maya and Amos' life is the mysterious Eurasian Kyle Hawkesworth who prints a local paper and also has a very hidden agenda (and a BIG secret) in respects to Christian's father Lord Jasper.

This is a story that is very difficult to put into words, and is very different from Olivia and Jai. There are no star crossed lovers that keep you turning the page well into the night waiting for the next surprise, the first half of the book is actually taken up with setting up the story and providing the flash backs into what happened prior to the Mutiny.

What this book is about is the plight of the Eurasians in colonial India, whether they are poor and base born or independently wealthy as the Raventhorne's are. Not accepted by either the British community or the Indians, theirs is a life lived in constant shadow and insecurity. The author uses several interesting methods with her characters to keep this theme at the forefront of her story, from Olivia's support of a home for women, to Amos and Kyle's interest in setting up a school for the lesser born Eurasian children, Christopher's idealistic dreams of what he can accomplish during his public service in India, and the most heartbreaking of all when Maya is rejected by a member of an Indian family she's known since childhood.

As stated earlier, this is not a romance with star crossed lovers and a HEA ending for all, and if that's what you are expecting I recommend you stop and just savor the ending from Olivia and Jai and keep that in your memories forever. However, if like me you need to read the rest of the story and enjoy a novel heavy on the history and setting of 19C India and the British Raj along with an eye opening look at the prejudices of the time against the Eurasian population it's well worth your time searching this one out. Ryman was born and raised in India and her knowledge and love of the culture shine through making for a well written and well rounded journey to another place and time, and isn't that what historical fiction is all about? Four stars.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, this is a very long book in which absolutely NOTHING happens. And I feel the need to set out a warning: if you really liked Jai Raventhorne in the first book and his enigmatic character is one of the main driving forces that have led you to consider reading this book, don't waste your time. He makes only a cursory appearance in this book and it's not even real or very satisfying. Finding out what happens with his story was what kept me going to the end, but as I have already pointed out, NOTHING happens. It was with loyalty that I fought my way through the first part of the book, thinking my suspicions about Jai were correct, and as such, I suffered through the lives of his children whom I really cared not much about. Amos is the image of his father, but he ultimately has a kind personality. Maya is a spoiled and manipulative brat. Olivia is a whiner who lets almost every circumstance defeat her or send her "bursting in to tears". There is a sufficient amount of intrigue in the book, but some situations, like the sudden entrance of her second child, were wholly unnecessary to the plot and could have saved a few hundred pages of bother if they had been cut out. There is no romance in this book like there was in the last. The only character with any real depth is Kyle, but by the end, nothing happens with him, either. To sum it up, I would not recommend this book to anyone except a die hard fan of the first book, but even then, that may not save this for you.

[Sarah W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to Olivia and Jai chronicles the tale of the Eurasian Raventhorne family in Calutta in the late nineteenth century. Olivia and her two children live under the shadow of her deceased husband's reputed massacre during the 1857 mutiny. Determined to prove his innocence, Olivia and her children also struggle to be accepted into the racist British society in Calcutta, especially when the daughter of the family, Maya, becomes involved with one of the British civil service officers. While not offering the romance of its predecessor, The Veil of Illusion nonetheless possesses many twists and turns, figures seeking revenge and redemption, and delves into the depths of emotion felt by its characters.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a sequel of Olivia and Jai. The main point for me was that I found this book is much more interesting after have read Siege of Krishnapur about the Sepoy Mutiny.

The plot is about Olivia and her two sons Amos and Maya, as well as her firstborn child Allistair, and how they tried to survive after Jai's death in order to find his innocence and his final justice.

page 194:
"What does Maya mean?"...."It means an illusion."

[Julie]

OMG there's a sequel??? Jai is dead? Do I even want to read this?

[ANGELIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good sequel to "Olivia and Jai", but not as good as the first book. (I said that one should have been a miniseries, I don't think the same about this.) There were some really good moments, and I liked the character of Maya, Olivia and Jai's daughter (love the way she got back at Christian when he revealed he really was a racist), as well as Kyle, and Olivia getting a surprise visitor from the past, also the whole story of Jai and the mystery surrounding it. But - as with the first book - it was much too long. Everything could have been said and done in about 200 less pages.

Not perfect, but a good story, anyhow.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had hoped for a true sequel to Olivia and Jai and although some of the characters do carry over, one major character did not and I was a bit shocked about that. An interesting read, but paled in comparison to Olivia and Jai.

[Pi Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sabéis si se encuentra este libro en.español? Lo busco pero lo.que me aparece es en ese idioma

[Elisabeth Anne Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Olivia and Jai but still great and provides the conclusion to Olivia and Jai's love story.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the sequel was perfection! By far one of the best sequels I have ever read. I truly appreciate the respect that Rebecca Ryman gave us, the characters and the story line but not making this another happily ever after. What a shame Rebecca Ryman is no longer with us to gift the world with such captivating novels.

[L. · Rating 1 out of 5]

All the action was in past tense. We the readers never get to experience the actual events, just listen as a character relates to another character what happened. I ended up skipping and skimming through the last half.

[Deeraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to read as a huge fan of the original book, Olivia and Jai. Losing one of your favorite characters is like losing a good friend. So painful. But the book moves on from there and introduces the reader to a whole group of new characters. Another masterpiece by Ryman.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequel to Olivia and Jai

[Hirondelle (not getting all notifications)]

Part of my strategical reserve of books I am hoarding to read one day. Sequel to Olivia&Jai, one of the only 3 books the author published ( I loved the other two), saved for a rainy day read...

[Vikas Datta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite engrossing...

[L F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was push to call this a follow up to Olivia & JAI. This was a completely different beast. Very slow to get started, but last 2/3 of book was excellent, thus the 4 star not 5 star.