Tiziana’s Reviews > The Palace of Lost Dreams > Status Update

That sounds like an interesting tradeoff: the romance is not delivering yet, but the historical side is. At halfway, is it the British India setting itself or the period detail around the characters that is keeping you invested?

Vera wrote: "That sounds like an interesting tradeoff: the romance is not delivering yet, but the historical side is. At halfway, is it the British India setting itself or the period detail around the character..."

The setting is well described, both on a sensorial level (visually, with its architectural details, sumptuous palaces and elements of poverty, the colors of the fabrics and jewels, and olfactoryly, with the author including unpleasant scents and smells), but what most captivates me is the protagonist's story. From the cold England where she had become subservient to the will of others, she finds the courage to start over in a totally different place, where, in fact, she is a complete stranger even to her brother, whom she hasn't seen in over 10 years. Her desire to get her life back on track is such that she throws herself headlong into a vast project despite the difficulties. The road is uphill, but on every page it is easy to recognize ourselves in this girl, because at the same time, nowadays, we sometimes live the same situations (we have projects that others don't believe in and try to discourage us, we think that it is now too late to do certain things or for certain situations, because we have now reached a certain age, we would like to feel part of certain groups but it is not easy to be accepted, it is not easy to find compromises with those who are too different from us...)

The book is interesting from a historical perspective because the fiction is mixed with real events and characters (even if the author used a great deal of poetic license). I'm not familiar with India and that historical period, but as I read, I looked up historical figures online and learned a lot.

I love it when the author doesn't limit himself to some kind of outfit to describe the historical era of the set, but engages in historical research, providing the reader with a real taste of history and plenty of ideas to expand their curiosity about it via Wikipedia or other historical articles on the web.

The book's cover made me think there would be more romance, but instead, the love story is there, but that's not the author's focus, and I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone looking for a love story (there's really too little here!)

( Sorry for my English, I'm from Italy 😊 and many thanks for your comment ! )