A Black Englishman

by Carolyn Slaughter

India, 1920: exotic, glamorous, and violent, as the country begins to resist England's colonial grip. In the midst of this turmoil, Isabel, a young British military wife, begins a passionate liaison with Sam, an Indian doctor and Oxford graduate who insists, against all odds, on the right to be both black and British. Their secret devotion to each other takes them across India in a terrifying, deadly race against time and tradition. This powerful and erotic love story combines the themes of colonial exploitation, political and ethnic tensions, race and sexuality, and the many forms of partition, both secular and religious, that endanger our world.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, India, Historical, Asia, Womens, British Literature

352 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2004

About the author

Carolyn Slaughter was born in New Delhi, India, and spent most of her childhood in the Kalahari Desert of what is now Botswana. Soon after leaving Africa in 1961, she wrote what would later become her highly acclaimed novel Dreams of the Kalahari. She followed this with eight more novels. After living for many years in London, she moved to the United States with her family in 1986.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh, how i absolutely loved this book. i felt emotionally drained when i finished it this morning.

initially i thought it was maybe going to be too much of a love story, as i don't enjoy the typical love story. something made me want to continue reading ... the author writes so beautifully. i personally don't enjoy paragraphs that are too long - words filling up the whole page without much dialogue and breaks. i tend to skip over a few words or sentences if this happens, but with this book i wanted to read every word.

i love reading about different cultures and how cultures are integrated. this is close to my heart, as i am married to somebody whose family is from a different culture and religion.

this story was gut-wrenching - and yet so beautiful. i could feel the emotions and the description of the places were so real in my mind's eye.

i would definitely want to read some of her other books.

[Edita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would I have chosen any of it if I’d known that darkness can strike like a fist or that a person can drown in it— and want to? Absolutely. I’d have chosen the whole bang shoot because I thought I could pull off anything then: […] I was frightfully in love with love;
*
We'd reached that place, and it happened quickly, where it was too painful to talk. [...] He was fractured, and only time would put him together.
*
Everything, he said, that happens to us, we do to ourselves, one way or another.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story overall, even tho it's not my usual sort of read. Lots of history of India and the customs of the raj during the ealry 1920's. The author has a way of making the scene very real and you can almost feel the humidity! I found the writing to be a bit of-putting. Embedded conversation made it difficult to read, and a few more paragraphs would have helped - but that is my opinion! Other members of my book club loved the writing style.

[Tittirossa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretenzioso e furbo, ma senza slancio. Narra una passione ma senza passione nella scrittura.
Isabel, dopo una traumatica (ed appena accennata) storia con Gareth (che poveretto ci rimette salute mentale e fisica nella Grande Guerra) accetta (abbastanza sconsideratamente) di sposare Neville, pur di lasciare l'Inghilterra.
Ahimè, Neville è quella bestia che la mamma italo-gallese di I. aveva predetto, e la vita della moglie di un sergente in India è una gran noia. Per fortuna, I. non fa in tempo ad arrivare che vede Singh (medico indiano ma inglesissimo per fortuna ed educazione) e se ne innamora ricambiata.
Seguono 300 pagine abbastanza irreali in cui i due si frequentano in barba alla società: N. è in missione per un anno e nessun altro (mogli di colleghi, superiori, parenti di S.) si fa vivo. Naturalmente I. è ricca di suo e può mantenere se stessa ed il fedele Joseph (il domestico) nelle sue scorribande amorose con S.
Questi è ricchissimo, benefattore e figlio di un terrorista che ha ripudiato Gandhi.
A un certo punto tutto precipita: arriva la mamma di I. in visita, benedice l'amore, impone alla figlia di lasciare S., salta fuori il marito cornuto che quasi acceca I., questa riesce a fuggire, viene ripresa, condotta in manicomio, ma l'infermiera mossa a compassione la lascia fuggire.
Finalmente il lieto fine: S. (che era stato arrestato e torturato) è libero e insieme fondano un ospedale, lavorano da matti e vivono felici (lei è pure in lieta attesa!).
La trama è ripiena come un tacchino a Natale, e per dare spessore ai personaggi principali si perde per strada tutti gli altri. La scrittura non è male, così come la storia (a parte certe incredibili inverosimiglianze) , ma l'insieme è un pasticcio che fa venire voglia di leggere Kipling (o La Grande Pioggia di Bromfield).

[Wendy Morton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d probably give this 3 1/2 stars. It was an interesting book. Carolyn Slaughter clearly has a love of India and this comes through strongly. But her descriptions of the country at this period in its history also highlight the harshness, brutality and ugliness rather than painting the country and time as being all beautiful. It’s not a warm and fuzzy book!
It was an intriguing read - the land and the time seeming often to overwhelm the story - which is supposedly a love story between an Indian, English raised and educated doctor and a young woman from Wales. For me, this part of the book was it’s weak point. I never really warmed to Isabel, she seemed flighty and self obsessed and randomly decides to study medicine. She seemed to have no concern for anyone else or for the consequences of her actions. And I could not believe that her and Sam’s relationship was a great love affair - for me it just didn’t ring true. There seemed to be not enough time together to get to know each other and Sam just seemed moody and focussed elsewhere. It felt as though the initial instant sexual attraction somehow transformed into a great love with nothing in between to make it convincing.
I did like Joseph though, he was the most real character in the book!
At times the political views almost took over. It was as though Ms Slaughter couldn’t decide whether to write an historical tale of the times or a great love story and I think the reader is the one who misses out because neither aspect really hit the mark.
Have said all that, I didn’t dislike it but, then again, I didn’t love it either.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

'A Black Englishman' is the tale of a Welsh girl who marries a soldier, goes out to India and breaks all the taboos by falling in love with a local man. It's set in the 1920s - a time when many Indians had come to believe that Independence would come their way in the aftermath of the First World War but the British just weren't ready to let go. The book touches on some of the key events of the Independence movement but in such an oblique way that if you don't already know about those events, such as the Jallianwallahbagh Massacre, you wouldn't necessarily be any the wiser for reading this book.

She throws herself into the relationship with an astonishing degree of recklessness, heading off to Shimla (surely the most gossipy place in British India) to spend time with her lover, dressing in saris and pretending to be a local. Once the lovers are inevitably 'rumbled' by an officer who catches them together, there's sure to be plenty of trouble as they attempt to find a way to reconcile their relationship with their personal situations. She seems to have completely forgotten about her husband, and he, whilst he's not a man to suffer a broken heart, equally isn't the type to let her get away with it. He will have his revenge, no matter how long it takes.

Isabel Webb - 23-year old Isabel is the daughter of an upper-class Italian mother who 'married down' with an Englishman. Isabel's sweetheart was killed in the trenches of the First World War and with so many dead men, the choices for a young university-educated woman in search of a husband were poor. She rushed into marriage with Neville Webb, a working-class career army-man serving in India. His social inferiority drew the disapproval of her parents - plenty of 'you've made your bed and now you must lie in it' comments - but for Isabel, the idea of India was so exciting that she married him anyway. On the day she arrives at the army base in the Punjab the camp was in turmoil at the murder of an army wife and the subsequent suicide of the husband who had shot her. This should have been a warning about the risks of fooling around but was one Isabel chose to ignore.

Isabel quickly learned that the rules of behaviour in the army were every bit as tough for the wives as for the men but found a good ally in her servant, Joseph. She also found that by marrying down she was no longer the peer of the sort of women who would have been her equal back in Wales. She set off to test the boundaries of what she could get away with - visiting the local markets instead of those frequented by the other army wives and riding astride in her jodhpurs instead of side-saddle in a skirt. With her husband already despatched to the North West Frontier, she quickly found herself laid up with malaria and in the hands (quite literally) of the local doctor.

Neville Webb - Isabel's husband is a sergeant in the British Army and army life totally defines who he is and what he does. It gives him free reign to be brutal at times and to ignore his wife for extended periods whilst he's off at the front. He met Isabel after being sent home to Britain with instructions to sort himself out and get a wife and it's fair to say his closets are rattling with plenty of skeletons. Was he involved with the dead woman whose body was found on the day Isabel arrived? Who is the mysterious Muslim girl in his past? But mostly Neville's job is to go out and kill people and he's good at it. He has a man-servant who's an eerie Pathan tribesman who serves as valet and protector. Neville is sexually voracious, utterly unsuited to marriage and portrayed with a touch of dark violence. (Note - Neville Webb is not a made up name - he was Carolyn Slaughter's maternal grandfather and you can't help thinking there's some family dirty linen being washed in the book).

Samresh - Sam is the doctor - a high-caste, highly-educated Kashmiri who was sent to school in England. Eton and Oxford have made him an Englishman but living and working in India has made him a caricature that he calls a 'Black Englishman'. He's caught between the two worlds and like many educated Indians of his period he's pulled between the British whose made him what he is and India, the country of his birth. Sam is the romantic hero - fair-skinned, green-eyed and handsome - and of course, he's a doctor so it's hardly surprising Isabel fell for him? (I'm being a bit sarcastic but at times it's a bit Mills and Boon Nurse and Doctor). If Sam were white he'd be exactly the sort of man Isabel's mother would have wanted her to marry - but he's not and his race puts him beyond the pale.

Joseph - Joseph is Isabel's servant and he's probably my favourite character in the book. He's been serving the British army men and their wives for years and he knows all the rules inside out and is happy to try to train Isabel in the ways of a pukka memsahib. However, he's a loyal and good man who stands by Isabel despite her many transgressions, accepting behaviour that's truly unacceptable and following her through her meanderings around the country. Of all the major characters, he's the only one that really comes out of the tale with honour.


Carolyn Slaughter was born in New Delhi but grew up in Africa. She had written eight other books before 'A Black Englishman' but this book is very personal. For many years her family told her that her maternal grandmother, Anne Webb, was dead but she eventually found out that Anne had been incarcerated in Indian and British mental institutes for most of her life. Slaughter and her grandmother finally met when the latter was 81 years old. Anne is the inspiration for Isabel and it's been suggested that 'A Black Englishman' is Slaughter's attempt to give her grandmother the happy ending she never had in real life.

Despite being born in India, Slaughter makes a lot of geographical mistakes in her novel, which show really poor research. Isabel stays at a hotel that wasn't built until the 1950s and supposedly enjoyed it for the views of the Qutb Minar which she couldn't possibly have seen from there as it's a 30-minute drive away. At one point she talks of visiting Chandigarh - a city that wasn't built until 30 years after the time in which the novel is set. These details are minor irritations like continuity errors in a film. On their own, they wouldn't be enough to ruin a good tale.

What does ruin it - for me at least - is the lack of a reason to believe in the love affair and since that's the whole point of the book, it's a serious problem. As readers we are supposed to believe that Isabel will give up everything - her marriage, status, parental love and even her freedom - for a man that Slaughter fails to convince us that Isabel really loves. Is she in love with Sam or in love with the 'idea' of him and the adventure of transgression? The sex is poorly written and the move from sexual dalliance to an all-consuming obsessive love just doesn't read convincingly. We can understand how she got into the affair but not why it carries on.

When you base a story on something within your family history as Slaughter has done, there must be barriers to really getting stuck in. I wondered if it was out of respect to her grandmother that the sex was so superficial and poorly written and the emotions of falling in love were so badly missing. But then after reading up about the author's background, I learned that Slaughter was the victim of many years of sexual abuse as a child and wondered if that was the blocker to her writing more convincingly about the topic. If you have issues about intimacy, maybe trying to write a great love story isn't the best direction to take.

The use of her grandfather's actual name is a clear indicator that this book is at least in part an act of revenge on him for what he did to her grandmother and on the family who hid the truth from her for so many years. But when something happened so long ago and in such different circumstances, is it really her (or our) place to judge blame in a relationship? I think plenty of men - or women - would have felt fairly justified in feeling bitter that their new spouse took their vows so lightly. Fair enough, they wouldn't have all gone as far to punish her but Slaughter is getting muddled between the feelings she has for the real Neville and her semi-fictional character.

I found some of the attitudes expressed in the book quite offensive but I would accept that looking from my 21st-century perspective that might be a little unfair. Samresh is described as a 'Black Englishman' but Isabel admits she's not sure she could love him if he were a dark-skinned Indian who hadn't been educated in England. She has chosen a fair-skinned Kashmiri man who is of far higher class than her army husband so the issues of class and race are very complicated. She's found a man of the right class but the wrong colour whilst her husband had the colour but none of the class.

Isabel isn't an easy character to like. She shows a total lack of concern for others - her husband is forgotten as she races off to Shimla to be with her lover; her lover's family are not even thought of until she's in too deep; her feelings of guilt over his wife and child only really develop once the wife is no longer an issue (I won't say how or why but it's all a bit too convenient a plot-turn); she shows a total lack or respect for the opinion of both her servants and her neighbours and whilst I can understand the latter, her behaviour towards Joseph really doesn't justify his subsequent sense of duty and loyalty to his employer.

I also don't believe for one moment that an Anglo-Italian, even one with a good tan, a dose of Brylcreem in her hair and a dab of kohl would ever be able to pass herself off as a local Indian woman. My British-born Punjabi friends with 100% genuine Indian blood running in their veins, can't even pass themselves off as locals when they visit their relatives. Regardless of how they dress, nobody ever thinks they are local.

Despite the slating I may have given it, I did quite enjoy A Black Englishman and if I knew less of the history and geography I could probably have suspended belief more than I did. The book kept my mind buzzing for days afterwards which is quite an achievement. What I liked were the places and the historical context that formed the background of the story much more than the story itself.

[Mark S H · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little harlequinish at times, love without really showing depth, but the back story about India was educational.

[Sooraj Subramaniam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't love at first sight - the detail of the first few pages meandered through a dreary path: too much richness felt as though nothing truly important or interesting was happening. The slow start, however, merely sets the tone for a compelling read ahead. Seemingly unbelievably stilted characters give way to candid obliqueness and honesty - I found resonance with this complexity.

The narrative is simply written and easy to follow. The metaphors, while intricate, were a little to the right of generous, and sometimes I'd have preferred to have skipped over them. But rightfully so, they only tease and cajole the reader on to the next page and the next page.

Confused cultural identity is very close to me. This was intimately and successfully delivered without getting entangled in the academics of it. Amusingly, the freshness of this book is that the protagonist's past is not uprooted by mangoes and monsoons. The pathos of the characters made me want more. Maybe's that's Slaughter's success.

[Lauren Milewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The descriptions of India during the fall of the British Empire are fascinating, with enough historical detail to be informative but without taking away from the core story. At times the novel feels a bit disjointed, skipping over months and moving hundreds of miles across the subcontinent, but its other strengths outweigh this weakness. The complicated feelings the main characters have about race and identity were explored thoroughly without being resolved or explained away, which I appreciated. The flaws, failings, and weaknesses of the main characters make them believable and sympathetic, while still allowing you to wish them well.

I felt like several plot points were left unresolved at the end of the novel, but ultimately was more satisfied with the ending than I expected to be.

[Nerdgirl36 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic story of forbidden love, a wealthy englishwoman in India despises her brutish military husband and falls for a refined Oxford educated Indian doctor in the early part of the twentieth century. The novel provoked very vivid images of life and attitudes in that time. Very moving images portrayed of attitudes toward minorities (including women) in that time. The landscape is lush and contstantly changing. The trials that the lovers face are of course overcome at the end. An emotional read.

[Cats 274 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many things are being taken for granted if you're white and born in Europe. A Black Englishman makes one think hard about so many of the amenities that we have. It is a novel, but a demanding one, of a kind that puts questions in front of a reader and then answers with giving more questions.

And although the typeface used to print my book is ridiculously small, I'm really glad I made an effort and pushed past first few pages.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a wonderful story about the strengthening of a strong woman. I have a thing for books based in India, and this was another really good read. The story of a free-spirited woman caught in the violent web of her vengeful husband, and breaking a lot of social mores to conduct an affair with a black Indian educated in England, and set in the 1930's, this was a really good read.

[Christy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up on it. IMO, the summary is false advertising (or good marketing). I found the writing very average, the story a bit anemic, and Isabel annoying. Even the dramatic events in this novel are not delivered in a way that elicits an emotional response from the reader. Overall, a bit of a yawn, when I have more interesting reads waiting on my shelf. Not worth my time.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. I love the lovers who transcend love and create this amazing tapestry of emotion and hope that really drew me into their lives and inspired me.

[Jaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest plotting, not the best writing style, but the places and characters come alive. Also, touches on several interesting issues and historical moments—the inspiration from the author's grandmother's unhappy ending to create this piece of historical fiction is particularly fascinating.

[Ron Ice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stupidity of racism

[Raul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the most romantic and passionate book that I've read in a while. A bit over the top sometimes, but I suppose it fits the period. Post WWI is remembered as a time of grand expressions. Bernice bobbing her hair and dancing the Charleston. Jazz trumpets blaring as people roared through the '20s, trying to drown out their recollections and reflections on the Great War, all those lost and the senselessness of it all. An entire generation battling against grief and nihilism with money and booze. Or, in the case of this narrator, a desperate escape to a foreign land. After losing her fiance in the war, she marries a British soldier she hardly knows and boards a ship to India. Needless to say, her time there wasn't all saffron and lollipops.

I won't get into the plot very much. I'd rather focus on what I liked and disliked about the novel. I do feel quite divided. It was an enjoyable read, but there were many passages where I felt the execution just didn't reach. My first reflection on this has to do with the limits of a first-person versus a third-person narrative. Slaughter's decision to present this tale in the first-person is questionable. It does heighten the emotion and give the reader a good feel for the character, but Slaughter overstepped the boundaries that a first-person narrative imposes. Mainly, with the first-person, the setting and background is completely dependent on the inner monologue of the narrator and the dialogue she has with other characters. This poses a difficult challenge for the writer, but Slaughter either doesn't consider or ignores these limitations. There were many conversations where the dialogue struck me as flat and unrealistic. Even if the characters were to be so pedantic, it makes for some awkward chats. The narrator's inner monologue also seemed to cross boundaries of what a real person would actually be thinking at that point in time, instead serving as an ungainly passage to bolster the setting and backstory. This makes me wonder how well the story would've come across in the 3rd person. If the heavy lifting was instead given to an omniscient narrator in order to have a more genuine voice for Isabel. It's hard to say, but I suspect it would be better.

Despite my misgivings, I did enjoy the story. The love story. The adventure story. The travel story. The challenge of carving out one's own life and path, consequences be damned. This was a strong point of the novel. It wasn't difficult to cheer on Isabel and hope for the best. I suppose she was a likeable character with enough complexity that there were things to dislike or find annoying. That's good for a characterization. However, I found many of the other characters to be too one-dimensional. More caricatures than characters. The line between good and evil too neatly drawn. The two main characters had quite a bit of depth, because we spend so much time in their minds and dialogues, but the supporting cast struck me as more cartoonish than real. Again, this didn't overly interfere with my enjoyment of the story, but left a sour, saccharine taste like cheap, instant coffee.

My favorite aspect of the novel was definitely the theme of race and multi-culturalism in the early 20th century, specifically as a black Englishman in India during colonialism. These were the strongest passages of the novel. When Sam or Isabel reflected on the difficulties and complexities of being, and being in love with, a black Englishman, I felt like I was reading something much deeper and more subtly expressed than what appears in the rest of the novel. This is a theme that firmly ties the tale to modern times. A moment to reflect on how far, and not far enough, we've come since then. Isabel reflecting on whether she would still love Sam if he were darker stood out and gave the love story more depth. She asks, "What's the exact shade of rejection?" Quite an honest and direct self-reflection. Sam's recounting of his time at school in England was also a very strong moment in the novel. That character became more real for me at that point.

All in all, I did care for the two main characters, so the novel did accomplish that much. Even if the execution could have been better, the tale still managed to tug the heartstrings on more than one occasion. As the story is loosely based on the author's grandmother's experience, I'm left wondering how much of the plot lines up with true events. What would her grandmother think when reading it? What passages would she have misgivings with? How connected would she feel to the fictional Isabel? Questions one can only ponder...

[Rita Monticelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scroll down for the English version

Un quasi impossibile incontro tra culture

Questo libro viene descritto in maniera un po’ fuorviante ed è stato solo dopo aver letto altre recensioni che ho deciso di leggerlo. Non si tratta affatto del solito romanzo rosa, e non è affatto caratterizzato da un’impronta erotica in senso stretto (nelle scene mostrate i protagonisti non fanno che parlare!), è bensì una storia di incontro tra due culture estremamente diverse ambientata oltre novant’anni fa, con tutte le difficoltà che ciò ne consegue.
Isabel è una ricca donna inglese, sposata con un soldato d’istanza in India, che inizia una relazione con un medico indiano, educato in Inghilterra e con forti legami con quel Paese. Il problema principale contro cui cozza la loro storia è quello razziale, non tanto per loro ma quanto per il mondo che li circonda. Le vicende si svolgono durante le fasi finali del dominio britannico in India e offrono uno spaccato poetico e allo stesso tempo spietato di questo Paese e del periodo storico.
La storia d’amore di per sé è molto bella, per quanto si fa difficoltà a credere che nella realtà sia stata possibile una devozione di questo tipo, così incrollabile e priva di tentennamenti, visto le impossibili prove che si trova ad affrontare, ma è forse l’unico aspetto certo in una vicenda piena di elementi incerti, a tratti molto violenti. Lo stile dell’autrice è così coinvolgente da rendere in pieno la drammaticità di certi momenti insieme all’aspetto avventuroso. Un senso di angoscia pervade il lettore man mano che la storia si porta verso la sua parte conclusiva, imponendogli di continuare a leggere. Arrivi a odiare alcuni personaggi, le storie terribili che vengono riferite, non solo quelle dei protagonisti, la stessa India e la stessa Inghilterra.
Una scelta un po’ anomala è quella di porre i dialoghi all’interno del resto del testo. Ciò crea a tratti confusione, ma è un valido espediente che permette alla protagonista, dal cui punto di vista tutta la storia viene raccontata, di riportare fatti ai quali non assiste tramite le parole di altri personaggi e di farlo in modo altrettanto efficace. Si creano infatti quasi degli spostamenti del punto di vista, senza preavviso, che permettono di avere una visione più ampia della storia.
Notevole è inoltre la capacità evocativa delle scene, ricche di metafore potenti capaci di generare nella mente del lettore immagini vive. Si ha quasi l’impressione di sentire gli odori, persino quelli sgradevoli, i suoni, i colori della stessa India, e se ne riceve tutte le sensazioni sia positive che soprattutto negative, legate ad abusi, torture, uccisioni.
Non amo le storie che finiscono male, anzi le odio proprio. Il fatto che venisse catalogato come romanzo rosa mi faceva ben sperare, ma ammetto di aver temuto il peggio al precipitare degli eventi. Per fortuna sono stata smentita, questo però ha lasciato in me il ricordo di una forte emozione che solo i buoni libri riescono a dare: quella di aver vissuto in prima persona la storia.
Voglio fare una piccola citazione a uno dei personaggi più riusciti di questo romanzo: Joseph, il domestico di Isabel. Sebbene si tratti di un comprimario, il suo ruolo è fondamentale e la sua evoluzione, il modo in cui si rivela al lettore, ne fa uno dei personaggi più belli nei quali mi sia mai imbattuta in un libro.


An almost impossible encounter between cultures

This book is described in a somewhat misleading way and it was only after reading other reviews that I decided to read it. It is not at all the usual romance novel, and it is not characterised by a eroticism in its strict sense (in the scenes shown the main characters do almost nothing but talk!), but it is a story of the encounter between two very different cultures set more than ninety years ago, with all the difficulties that this entails.
Isabel is a rich Englishwoman, married to a soldier serving in India, who begins a relationship with an Indian doctor, educated in England and with strong ties to that country. The main problem against which their relationship hits is the one related to their different race, not so much for them but for the world around them. The events take place during the final stages of British domination in India and offer a poetic and at the same time ruthless insight of this country and the historical period.
The love story itself is very nice, even if it is hard to believe that in reality a devotion of this kind, so unwavering and without hesitation, could be possible, given the impossible challenges it has to deal with, but it is perhaps the only certain thing in a story full of uncertain factors, sometimes very violent ones. The style of the author is so addictive to give a full idea of the drama of certain moments together with the adventurous aspects. A sense of anxiety pervades the reader as the story moves toward its final part, requiring them to keep reading. You get to hate some characters, the terrible stories that are reported, not just those of the protagonists, and even India and England.
A bit unusual choice is to embed all the dialogues inside the rest of the text. This creates confusion at times, but it is a valid device that allows the protagonist, from whose point of view the whole story is told, to bring the facts to which she hasn’t assisted through the words of other characters and do it in a very effective way. It almost creates shifts in the point of view, without notice, that allow for a broader view of the story.
Remarkable is also the evocative power of the scenes, rich in powerful metaphors, capable of generating vivid images in the reader’s mind. You almost have the impression to perceive the smells, even unpleasant ones, the sounds, the colours of India itself, as you receive all the feelings, both positive and above all negative ones, related to abuse, torture, killings.
I do not like stories with a sad ending, in fact I hate them. The fact that it was listed as a romance novel made me hope, but I admit I feared the worst with the pressure of events. Luckily I was denied, but this has left in me the remembrance of a strong emotion that only good books can give: that one of having experienced first hand the story.
I want to make a small mention to one of the best characters of this novel: Joseph, the servant of Isabel. Although this is not one of the protagonists, his role is crucial and his evolution, the way in which he reveals to the reader, make him one of the most beautiful characters in which I have ever come across in a book.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book that is written well but does not really draw you in.
This is the story of a Welsh woman who loses her finance during World War I and is set between the wars. She marries hurriedly to a career officer in the British Army in India. They are never a love match and she has genuine reasons for not being able to love him given conditions when she arrives in India and his behaviour generally.
She quickly falls in love with a local doctor, who is Indian but was educated in the UK. The story deteriorates from there, with a 'great love' story somehow coming out of this mess and her running around India to be with her doctor, despite the problems that arise from both cultures - especially in those days and the lovers seeming uncaring attitude to everyone else except themselves.
There is a lot of history of India in this book, for the between the wars period - this part was very interesting, but the love story is totally unconvincing.
I found the really to be the story of two selfish people, who care for nothing but their own feelings, which are many things, but not a 'great love'. More like an excuse to run away from their own restrictive upbringings.
This story is like a supermarket curry - has all the right ingredients, but just not the real deal and leaves you wondering why you just didn't order takeaway.
I recommend this book to those who like their protagonists selfish and uncaring, verging on delusional.

[Luqq_Nulhakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story of how love can be so random and how it transcends race, colour and perception.
Shows how love can be both easy and hard.
Perseverance, dedication and commitment of Mrs Webb in pursuing her goal of becoming a doctor and defending his love for Dr Singh is truly admirable.
The underlying story is about the British imposing their beliefs on India. Believing that they are saviours, and not destroyers of India. When in fact, their presence are the cause of the destruction jn India. Playing their cards smartly by using the tension between the Hindus and Muslims as a reason for them to stay in India.
Love in the most unlucklies of people and corcumstances; and the rise of the people under oppression are the themes in play here.
A lovely story.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I am officially done with books about India and the Raj by white people.

Full disclosure: I am trying to whittle down some of the insane book stacks in my house and I don't know how long this book has been there. And the introductory note about how the book was based on the author's grandparent who was institutionalized both in India and in England after Independence hooked me. But it's such an icky mix of exoticism and wish fulfillment, not to mention the fact that the narrator seemed much more 21st century than the early1920s. The novel has this total happy ending where there should have been no happy ending anywhere in sight so I just felt manipulated and slightly complicit.

[Louise Mcvicar · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The most I've given in ages. great well rounded historical novel inspired by the author's own grandmother I think. Great writing style. Fast paced enough but descriptive and intelligent prose without being irritating.

I did find the romance picked up way too fast to be credible and the author and main character straddled an interesting line between a respect and love of the culture, and fetishism and cultural appropriation, which in a book about race and cross cultural romance, was an interesting layer, intentional or not. Would love to know what others think.

[Sbsokel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of young English woman who marries a British soldier stationed in India in the 20s. He goes off with his regiment and she becomes involved with a “black Englishman “ doctor , who is not wholly accepted as a black (Indian) or Englishman. Their relationship is thwarted by the strife between Hindus and Muslims, their attempt to keep their love a secret, and their roles they each have to play as individuals. No depiction of the beauty and mysteries of India.

[Michelle Emmae · Rating 2 out of 5]

pensavo meglio, bella la descrizione dell'India, ma ho faticato a leggerlo fino alla fine

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as a novel but full of the history of colonial India this is well written and has great characters

[Samantha Lines Karanth · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed the history of India in this book, I couldn’t warm to the characters at all which made it harder to engage with.

[Kathy Buys · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good recount of some of the conflict surrounding India’s liberation from the British. Was very drawn out however, and some issues left unanswered.

[Vicky Rossouw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a woman who marries an abusive man and moves with him to India as he is a soldier enlisted in the war fighting for the British. The woman, Isabel, soon falls in love with a doctor, Sam, while her husband is away frighting. Their love is dangerous in the shadow of both the political climate and their marital statuses. Isabel decided to peruse a degree in medicine and continue her affair with Sam against advice from her mother and friends. Her husband soon tracks her down on return from war and assaults her due to her infidelity, of which he is also guilty. Isabel manages to escape and takes refuge with Sam’s mother where she discovers that he has been taken as a prisoner of war. Together they plot his escape during which time Isabel discovers that she is pregnant. Sam manages to escape and him and Isabella decide to open a medical facility in a rural area of India to live out their days together.

This story seems unfinished as it is unclear if the character ever escapes her abusive husband permanently or if she bears a healthy child. The story was written with a detached style and the lack of punctuation when direct speech is indicated caused confusion and a lack of flow in reading. I enjoyed the descriptive nature of the story and found that the novel positively adds to the historical fiction of the time.

[Valentina Morgana la fata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Direi che gli do tre stelle anche se sono abbastanza indecisa.
Questo libro è stato molto controverso, la trama di per se era molto bella e le descrizioni dell'India ti facevano trattenere il fiato e venire le lacrime agli occhi per tanta bellezza, quasi che l'amore dell'autrice per quel paese si fosse trasmesso al lettore attraverso quelle parole.
Però...eh si c'è il però: la totale mancanza di dialoghi e di punteggiatura che indicasse quando i personaggi parlavano l'uno con l'altra mi ha totalmente confuso, soprattutto all'inizio, che tra parentesi è stato piuttosto lento, il libro prende il via da metà più o meno.
Inoltre forse sono io ma per tutto il libro non sono riuscita a sentirmi vicino ai personaggi neanche una volta, ne ho seguito la storia, sono stata in apprensione per loro (soprattutto nel finale) ma non li ho sentiti "reali" e questo per me è comunque un lato molto negativo.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in India in the 1920's, this story is a combination of adventure and romance. Isabel lost her love in the first world war. She decided to gamble on adventure and not on love, so she married an Army guy whom she barely knew because he was stationed in India. Her father had lived in India as a child, and she needed something new in life. Immediately upon her arrival she is struck by how rigid the English Army society is. The list of things she could not do as a woman has multiplied astronomically since her arrival. All this for an unconventional woman who actually went to university in Edinburgh. So she meets someone who is Indian, but was raised in England. They fall in love, although they are both already married. The story centers around what happens afterwards and what they both have to give up. There's enough detail to inform but not too much so it still entertains.