3 Novels : A Summer Adventure, The Hidden Treasure, The Only Witness

by Shashi Deshpande

Three thrilling adventures featuring the indomitable cousins Dinu, Minu, Polly and Ravi

When Ravi comes from Bombay to stay with his three cousins for the summer holidays, little does he realize this is the beginning of a series of exciting events that will test their intelligence and luck.

In the first story a string of audacious robberies occur in their usually quiet town. Who is the thief? Is it the sinister Dhondu who seems to hate the children, or is he covering up for someone else?

In The Hidden Treasure the four cousins end up spending their Diwali holiday in Kaka's farm in a village. Village life is fun, especially with their broken-down ancestral mansion to explore. Gradually the children realize there is something sinister afoot. Who has been digging away in the mansion in the dead of night? Did their ancestor really bury his life's savings in their sprawling ancestral home before joining the 1857 uprising, or is it just a legend? And, if the treasure's still there, will they get to it before the crooks do?

In the last novel, it's Dinu, Minu and Polly's turn to visit Bombay and spend the summer with Ravi. There they make new friends, one of whom claims to have seen the face of a bank robber. Soon after, a spate of robberies break out all over Bombay. Is it the same gang at work? Then their friend is kidnapped and the four children find themselves in the midst of a desperate chase . . .

Thrilling, funny, and full of memorable characters, these three novels, first published in the 1970s, are sure to captivate a whole new generation of readers.

Age group of target audience: 8+

371 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Novelist and short story writer, Shashi Deshpande began her career with short stories and has by now authored nine short story collections, twelve novels and four books for children. Three of her novels have received awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award for `That Long Silence'. Some of her other novels are `The Dark Holds No Terrors', `A Matter of Time', `Small Remedies', `Moving On', `In The Country of Deceit' and `Ships that Pass'. Her latest novel is `Shadow Play'.Many of her short stories and novels have been translated into a number of Indian as well as European languages. She has translated two plays by her father, Adya Rangacharya, (Shriranga), as well as his memoirs, from Kannada into English, and a novel by Gauri Deshpande from Marathi into English.
Apart from fiction, she has written a number of articles on various subjects - literature, language, Indian writing in English, feminism and women's writing - which have now been put together in a collection `Writing from the Margin.' She has been invited to participate in various literary conferences and festivals, as well as to lecture in Universities, both in India and abroad.

She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2008.

List of books by Shashi Deshpande

Dark Holds No Terrors (1982)
That Long Silence (1989)
A Matter of Time
Moving On
Small Remedies
Shadow Play (2013)
The Narayanpur Incident
If I Die Today
In the Country of Deceit
The Binding Vine
Ships That Pass (2012)
The Intrusion And Other Stories
3 Novels : A Summer Adventure, The Hidden Treasure, The Only Witness
Come Up & Be Dead
Collected Stories (Volume - 1)
Collected Stories (Volume - 2)
Writing from the Margin: And Other Essays

Reviews

[Prathibha Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting, quite adventurous children's novels..

[Apoorva Nadig · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my most favourite books read during teenage,I could relate to Minu so well. Polly was annoying yet cute. The boys were always up for adventure. These books belong to a reader who is somewhere between a child and an adolescent. The end of each adventure was always amazing. I liked The Only Witness,the first and the most.
I thought the kids were really going to get killed in the Mumbai one.

[Jishnu Bhattacharya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of like Enid Blyton written in Indian English