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East of the Sun
 
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East of the Sun (Paperback)

by Julia Gregson (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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East of the Sun + The Forgotten Garden + The House at Riverton
Price For All Three: £13.59

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Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Orion (12 Jun 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1409102513
  • ISBN-13: 978-1409102519
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,384 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"this engaging novel perfectly captures the last days of the Raj" (DAILY EXPRESS )

"What a gorgeous read. Exciting, romantic, unpredictable and funny. I didn't want it to end. You'll crave curry for weeks." (Tracey Ullman )

"The Orion staff gave this beautifully written book an overwhelming thumbs up, and it isn't hard to see why" (COUNTRY LIFE )

"a finely written story full of characters you can care about...highly descriptive and persuasively told" (THE LADY )

"a unique and fascinating historical novel" (PRIMA )

"For passion in an exotic landscape, check out Julia Gregson's East of the Sun" (Giles Foden CONDENAST TRAVELLER )

"Warm, charming, masterfully written and impossible to put down once begun" (AUSTRALIAN WOMENS WEEKLY )

"A richly imagined and thoroughly rewarding book" (NHS MAGAZINE )

"this novel is utterly engaging" (ASIAN AGE )

'Time, place and that pivotal moment in history are skilfully and engrossingly involved' (BEST )

Product Description
An utterly captivating story of three young British women in search of freedom and love in 1920s India

Synopsis

Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naïve bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn t be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom. Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.

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Customer Reviews

64 Reviews
5 star:
 (27)
4 star:
 (15)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (64 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable picture of colonial India, 10 Sep 2008
By K. Huff (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have to admit, I picked up East of the Sun from Amazon UK on a sort of blind buy. It was recommended to me because I purchased The Forgotten Garden. Well, one thing turned into another late one night... and all of a sudden I found myself clicking "proceed to checkout." You know how it is.

I actually rather glad I made this impulse purchase. Set in 1928 and 1929, East of the Sun is the story of three women who go to India: Rose, a young woman going to get married; her best friend Tor, going to be her bridesmaid and hopeful that she'll find a husband herself; and Viva, a young woman accompanying them on their voyage in order to reclaim a trunk that once belonged to her parents. Also in her care is Guy Glover, an unstable sixteen-year-old, who's just been kicked out of boarding school and who quickly becomes a risk to Viva and her charges.

Once the women get to India, nothing is what they expected it to be. Rose's marriage is hardly a bed of roses; and, although the number of English men in India overwhelms the number of women, Tor can't quite get her act together in order to find a husband. As for Viva, her plans to pick up her trunk and leave India derail pretty quickly as Guy Glover's antics get out of hand.

The novel is not so much about India as it is about the British in India and the so-called "fishing fleet" of young women who went there to find husbands. The first third of the book is devoted to the voyage out to India (in first class) on the Kaiser-i-Hind, and I thought that part of the book was particularly engaging. The characters are all finely drawn, and I found myself rooting for each of them. It's a very lively and dramatic book, and I couldn't put it down. The story mostly belongs to Viva, but my favorite character above all was Tor--her personality was much more endearing than that of the other characters.' The only setback to this novel is the Guy Glover storyline, which kind of detracts from the story. In all, however, Julia Gregson does a wonderful job of capturing the last days of British colonization in India with a fine eye for detail.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant but not exceptional, 5 Oct 2008
By Suzie (Scotland, UK) - See all my reviews
This is the story of three women venturing to India in the 1920s, each with her own hopes and dreams, her own fears. While it is pleasant enough - ideal as a holiday read perhaps - it hardly excites or lingers in the memory. The writing is sufficiently fluid not to jar, but there is little to entice the reader back to seek deeper insight, nothing particularly thought-provoking, no phrase or paragraph so poetic that it must be read and re-read for the sheer pleasure of the language.

Nineteen-year-old Rose is travelling to India to marry Jack Chandler, an army officer she barely knew before he proposed and whose regiment sailed to India shortly after their engagement. By the time Rose approaches Bombay she can hardly remember what he was like and is nervous of meeting him again. Her best friend Tor (unusually, short for Victoria), who cannot wait to be free of her overbearing mother, is to be Rose's bridesmaid and hopes to find a husband of her own. Viva, the young woman employed as their chaperone, has her own hang-ups about India where she lived as a child before losing both her parents and her sister.

Overall, the story is interesting if somewhat bland and there are sections missing that cry out to be told. One such is Rose's wedding. The voyage to India, which dominates the early chapters, is a build-up to the forthcoming marriage, full of Rose's fears and feelings, with a couple of chapters on Jack's perceptions. But the wedding itself is passed over in the briefest description from Tor's viewpoint, without our ever knowing how the bride herself viewed the day.

Of the girls' stories, it was Viva's that came most alive and was most fully developed. Tor's story achieved a satisfying roundness, but Rose's seemed to fizzle out as if unfinished, leaving questions unanswered. There were hints but nothing more. Maybe this was deliberate, but for me it left a sense of incompleteness, as if the author had forgotten to add the finishing touches to Rose's viewpoint.

For all that the book is enjoyable, so long as you treat it as a light read and don't expect too much. Recommended for holiday or bedtime reading, or whenever you don't want to be too challenged!
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72 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Beckons you in, 26 Jun 2008
By SJSmith (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This book is captivating. It is a slow unfurling read that can't be rushed. If you haven't been to India, Gregson's stimulating narrative is going to awaken your senses. If you have been, especially to the places described, a wonderful memory awaits. It's autumn 1928 and the Kaiser-i-Hind is waiting to set sail for Bombay a land promising the start of three very different lives for the three young women we follow on board.

Meet Rose, Victoria (Tor) and Viva. Rose is naïve and about to be married to man she hardly knows but is full of hope. Tor is happy to be away from her parents and her life and all she wants from her adventure is a husband of her own. Then there is Viva who isn't as old as Rose and Tor's family thinks she is yet still manages to secure a job as their chaperone. There are other significant characters along the way but these three women are the narrators, telling their story in their own way; learning about themselves and each other.

The book is fabulous, from beginning to end. Gregson introduces the reader to the three women in the beginning of the novel and the beginning of their adventure. Dialogue and narrative blend to give an enthralling story that is difficult to put down. I became quite involved in their ups and downs, willing them on with different parts of the lives, especially when they were making fools of themselves with the decisions they were making. I have a love of literature set in India and would have discovered this novel myself at some point but I was thrilled to see this as part of Richard & Judy's summer read. Having read 6 out of the 8 novels so far, I have found this one to be by far the best. One I will continually recommend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars friends
The title says everything. A must for summer reading. Characters are delevoped througout the book.Facts mixed with fiction,Suitable for all ages
Published 20 days ago by Ele K. Manoli

4.0 out of 5 stars An Absorbing Summer Read
I enjoyed this book, which I found difficult to put down. I especially like the author's portrayal of the friendship among the three young English women, as it began on the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by F. S. L'hoir

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected gem.
Excellent read, especially if you've been to some of the places described. I wasn't expecting such a rewarding experience. Read more
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Published 2 months ago by Penpen

5.0 out of 5 stars A enjoyable novel to read
East of the Sun by Julia Gregson is an enjoyable novel to read. It is beautifully and wonderfully narrated. Read more
Published 2 months ago by P. DATTA

4.0 out of 5 stars Holiday Read
This book is a def Holiday Read as it starts slowly and takes a long time to really get going.
Im not quite sure how the author planned the plot as at times it is literally... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rhiannon

5.0 out of 5 stars lose yourself in this book
This is a page turner, I was looking forward to finding a good book having tried several but not getting into them. This fits the bill, you cant put it down. Recommended
Published 3 months ago by Mr. Philip R. Gardner

4.0 out of 5 stars A curate's egg
From the snobbishness of England to that of the British Raj in the early 1920s. Leaving all kinds of heartache behind in England: a beloved father, seriously ill; a sad, cruel... Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating read
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