Sara’s review of Coromandel Sea Change > Likes and Comments
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This is such a helpful review, Sara. I haven't read Paul Scott yet, so am adding The Jewel in the Crown instead of this one. 😊
Oh, get ready to be blown away! There are 4 books in the series, The Jewel in the Crown being the first, and you are going to want to read them every one. They are on the top of my list of books I want to revisit. I'm positive you cannot absorb everything he wants to give you in one reading.
So sorry to learn that you've hit on what may be a very rare dud by Rumer Godden. It is an oddity and of course, Godden portrays the India that she knew as a very young woman, not the India of today; and she wrote from a British POV.
Please don't give up on Godden; several of her novels are exceptionally good; perhaps her best would be A Fugue in Time.
Jim, I have read many of her books already. A Fugue in Time is my favorite so far. I am down to a handful of lesser known works now, with only Black Narcissus as a well-known one that I haven't gotten to. I count her as one of my favorite authors, but this book didn't get there for me. I am not surprised to find everything she wrote isn't 5-star level for me, and I also think I judge lesser books harder when a person has written superb books, as she has. Nice to see you were able to give it 4-stars.
How unusual to come across a book by Rumer Godden that did not meet expectations! I shall take not of the two authors you mentioned for a more authentic Indian experience. Thanks, Sara. I might have read Mistry years ago before GR days, but I've not heard of Paul Scott.
The Paul Scott is absolutely the definitive read if you want a true picture of India during the Raj and the withdrawal of the British. Mistry is almost his successor, telling us how the division affected people and what India is like today.
The Godden surprised me, Laysee. But much of reading is timing and I might have liked it better in a less-distracted time, I suppose. It is set in a nebulous time, maybe 1960-1980, so I also had a hard time placing my mind in the time frame and where the Indian nation was at this juncture. The political theme with the elections was mostly confusing to me.
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Kathleen
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Sep 11, 2026 12:18PM
This is such a helpful review, Sara. I haven't read Paul Scott yet, so am adding The Jewel in the Crown instead of this one. 😊
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Oh, get ready to be blown away! There are 4 books in the series, The Jewel in the Crown being the first, and you are going to want to read them every one. They are on the top of my list of books I want to revisit. I'm positive you cannot absorb everything he wants to give you in one reading.
So sorry to learn that you've hit on what may be a very rare dud by Rumer Godden. It is an oddity and of course, Godden portrays the India that she knew as a very young woman, not the India of today; and she wrote from a British POV.Please don't give up on Godden; several of her novels are exceptionally good; perhaps her best would be A Fugue in Time.
Jim, I have read many of her books already. A Fugue in Time is my favorite so far. I am down to a handful of lesser known works now, with only Black Narcissus as a well-known one that I haven't gotten to. I count her as one of my favorite authors, but this book didn't get there for me. I am not surprised to find everything she wrote isn't 5-star level for me, and I also think I judge lesser books harder when a person has written superb books, as she has. Nice to see you were able to give it 4-stars.
How unusual to come across a book by Rumer Godden that did not meet expectations! I shall take not of the two authors you mentioned for a more authentic Indian experience. Thanks, Sara. I might have read Mistry years ago before GR days, but I've not heard of Paul Scott.
The Paul Scott is absolutely the definitive read if you want a true picture of India during the Raj and the withdrawal of the British. Mistry is almost his successor, telling us how the division affected people and what India is like today. The Godden surprised me, Laysee. But much of reading is timing and I might have liked it better in a less-distracted time, I suppose. It is set in a nebulous time, maybe 1960-1980, so I also had a hard time placing my mind in the time frame and where the Indian nation was at this juncture. The political theme with the elections was mostly confusing to me.