Girl in a Red Silk Sari by Sharon Maas

                                                       

Ebook:  373 pages in Kindle Edition     

Genre: Fiction                                           

Publisher: Storm Publishing  April 28th 2025

Source: NetGalley

First Sentences: Madras, 1997, Asha  'Come,girl'  Mrs Pandain's voice was a command, her grasp on Asha's wrist that of an eagle's talon securing its prey. Tight fingers dug into her skin. Claws that pinched.

Review Quote: ‘Poignant, evocative, beautiful yet shocking and intelligently and sensitively written. It is all-absorbing, gripping and emotionally charged—an absolute must-read.” Reader Review,

Setting: India

My Opinion: 

It was only after finishing this novel that I discovered it was not the debut I had thought! In fact this author has a sizeable back catalogue and 'Girl in a Red Silk Sari' was originally published in 2001 as 'The Lost Daughter of India' and has been republished a number of times since then as well.

A disturbing story  about the ugly side of India. Asha's story is one that needs to be told as sadly even in today's world children are still being sold into prostitution. However in the nearly 25 years since the author first researched child prostitution in Mumbai, though still existing, it has been reduced to a tiny fraction of its previous levels. The author visited the streets of Kamathipura back in 2000 when researching her writing and it is the disturbing horrors of child prostitution in India that she brings alive in this novel.

Highly recommended, well worth reading even if it is rather harrowing to do so.

With thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Sharon Maas the author for the opportunity to read and review.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Madras, India. Caroline steps off the plane into the searing heat, senseless with worry. So much has changed since her first visit. This time, a piece of her heart is missing. This time, she is here to find her daughter…

Caroline Mitchell has never truly made peace with her past—and the circumstances that led to her separation from her beloved child. And when thirteen-year-old Asha vanishes without a trace, she faces every parent’s worst nightmare.

Desperate to find her, Caroline returns to India determined to do whatever it takes. The search will mean reconnecting with her estranged husband Kamal, and burying the memories of everything that happened between them. It will lead to the darkest corners of Mumbai’s infamous red-light district—a world of shadows, secrets, and unspeakable horrors. There, she discovers her precious daughter has been caught in a trafficking ring that preys on vulnerable children.

As Caroline navigates the labyrinthine streets and corrupt systems of Mumbai, she must find the strength to become the mother she has always wanted to be. Her mission will test her in ways she could never have imagined—but can she reach Asha in time, and save her from a terrifying fate? And if so, will she finally be able to heal the wounds of the past.

Perfect for readers of Jhumpa Lahiri, Julia Gregson and Lucinda Riley, this unforgettable novel will open your eyes and break your heart.

Author Profile:                

                                                                                                                             

                                                             Courtesy of Goodreads Profile

Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951, and a sense of adventure has followed her around the world. In 1971 she spent a year backpacking around South America, followed by a few months with pioneering friends in the Guyana rainforest, followed by an overland trip to India, followed by a year in a Hindu Ashram.

She settled in Germany where she married, studied, worked, and raised children. 

Officially retired, she continues to write from her new home in Ireland.

Her first novel was published by HarperCollins in 1999, followed by two more in 2001 and 2002. At present, she has 10 published works with the digital publisher Bookouture.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Author - Official Website.   Goodreads Profile.   Amazon Author Page   Instagram Profile

The Last Song of Dusk by S.D. Shanghvi

                                              

Paperback:   309 pages

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, India,

Publisher:  Orion, Phoenix 2005

Source:  A friend

First Sentence:  On the day Anuradha Patwardhan was leaving Udaipur for Bombay to marry a man she had not even met in the twenty-one years of her existence.

Review Quote: “A cornucopia of life at full tilt and high colour . . . Shanghvi–who’s been compared to Arundhati Roy, Zadie Smith, and Vikram Seth–combines ribald humour with prose poetry.”

–Sunday Oregonian

My Opinion: 

 I doubt this book is one I would have chosen to read, I did so as it was given to me by a friend. A very lyrical novel in style but be warned some of the scenes contain very explicit content. 

The novel tells the magical and at times unrealistic story of the main protagonist Anuradha, after she leaves home as a young girl to marry a man she has never met. What kept me reading was the setting in 1920's India.

If you are interested in novels set in India where you can learn some of the history of the country and become involved in the lives of the characters, then this is one you will enjoy.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

“Set in 1920s India, this magical debut novel tells the story of beautiful Anuradha, whose songs are spellbinding, but whose fate is troubled.”
–Elle

When the astonishingly lovely Anuradha moves to Bombay to marry Vardhmaan, a charming young doctor, their life together has all the makings of a fairy tale. But when their firstborn son dies in a terrible accident, tragedy transforms their marriage into a bleak landscape. As the pair starts fresh in a heartbroken old villa by the sea, they are joined by Nandini, a dazzling and devious artist with a trace of leopard blood in her veins. While Nandini flamboyantly takes on Bombay’s art scene, the couple attempts to mend their marriage, eventually discovering that real love, mercurial and many-hued, is given and received in silence. Sensuous and electric, achingly moving and wickedly funny, The Last Song of Dusk is a tale of fate that will haunt your heart like an old and beloved song.

Author Profile:    

                                       

Shanghvi was born in Juhu, Mumbai, India in 1977. He is an alumnae of Mumbai’s Mithibai College, and later pursued an MA in International Journalism at the University of Westminster, London, where he specialised in Photography in 1999.
He is an Indian author in English-language whose notable books include, The Last Song of Dusk and The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay. His book, The Last Song of Dusk, has been translated into 10 languages.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Amazon Author Profile.   Goodreads Profile

Sea of Poppies (Ibis Trilogy 1) by Amitav Ghosh

Hardback: 533 pages

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: John Murray 2008
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: The vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny for she had never seen such a vessel before, not even in a dream: how could she have, living as she did in northern Bihar, four hundred miles from the coast.
Review Quote: 'Sea of Poppies Boasts a varied collection of characters to love and hate, and provides wonderfully detailed descriptions of opium production ... utterly involving and piles on tension until the very last page' -- Peter Parker, Sunday Times

Favourite Quote: “How was it that no one had ever told her that it was not love itself, but its treacherous gatekeepers which made the greatest demands on your courage: the panic of acknowledging it; the terror of declaring it; the fear of being rebuffed? Why had no one told her that love's twin was not hate but cowardice?” 

Literary Awards:Man Booker Prize Nominee for Shortlist (2008), Vodafone Crossword Book Award for Fiction (2008), Indiaplaza Golden Quill Book Award for Best Novel / Popular Vote Award (2009)
My Opinion: Failed to capture my full attention.

I enjoy travelling the world via the pages of the novels I read but sadly Amitav  Ghosh failed to capture my full attention with this one. Having just joined another Book Group I was delighted to find that '

Sea of Poppies was the selection for my first meeting. It had been a long time since I read 'The Glass Palace' back in 2006 which I absolutely loved, though as this was before I started writing a blog, no review to refer you to.  

With a diverse cast of characters and great descriptions the readable chapters were fascinating but unfortunately for me that was only about 50% of the novel.  The rest was spoilt by what felt like an overuse of Hindu and Bengali words, there was not even an appendix of translated words in the edition I read, which would have helped tremendously.  As for the many characters the majority of them remained faceless. In fact the only two characters I felt I got to know were Deetie, the widow of an Opium Factory Worker and Paulette the daughter of a French botanist, even with these two protagonists it took me sometime to fix their storyline in place.

At the centre of this immense saga which starts in 1838 and spans the poppy fields in India across the Indian Ocean to the back streets of China, is a sailing ship the Ibis, carrying a diverse collection of passengers from Calcutta to the island of Mauritius. The period is one of colonial upheaval, old family ties are broken and new unlikely dynasties are born that will cross the seas, continents, races and generations. 

In conclusion Sea of Poppies was disappointing and no more than an ok read, that I doubt I would have got very far with had it not been selected for my book club. Having said that I rarely give up once I have started a book, but as this title was published in 2008 and I have not read until I was asked to I think says it all!  I still had no connection with the characters by the time I finished the novel, so therefore doubt I will be picking up the rest of the trilogy. Maybe this is a mistake as the historical background about the Opium Wars was fascinating, so this trilogy will surely appeal to readers that are interested in this period of history.

Author Profile

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta, India on July 11, 1956

He is is one of India's best-known writers. His books include The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, In An Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, Incendiary Circumstances, The Hungry Tide. Sea Poppies, His most recent novel, River of Smoke, is the second volume of the Ibis Trilogy, published in 2010.

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He studied in Dehra Dun, New Delhi, Alexandria and Oxford and his first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi. He earned a doctorate at Oxford before he wrote his first novel, which was published in 1986.

The Circle of Reason won the Prix Medicis Etranger, one of France's top literary awards, and The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Ananda Puraskar. The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997 and The Glass Palace won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001. The Hungry Tide won the Hutch Crossword Book Prize in 2006. In 2007 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Turin, Italy. Amitav Ghosh has written for many publications, including the Hindu, The New Yorker and Granta, and he has served on the juries of several international film festivals, including Locarno and Venice. He has taught at many universities in India and the USA, including Delhi University, Columbia, the City University of New York and Harvard. He no longer teaches and is currently writing the next volume of the Ibis Trilogy.

He is married to the writer, Deborah Baker, and has two children, Lila and Nayan. He divides his time between Kolkata, Goa and Brooklyn.

The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following websites, where you can also find more information about the author and his writing.

Goodreads - Author Profile  Amitav Ghosh - Wikipedia     Offical Website - Amitav Ghosh