Monsoon Summer

Description

A compelling story of love, adventure, and the secrets that follow us, wherever we go...I adored this wonderful story...Astonishingly good' Dinah Jefferies, bestselling author of The Tea Planter's Wife and Before the RainsOxfordshire, 1947. Exhausted by the war and nursing a tragic secret, Kit Smallwood throws herself into helping her godmother Daisy set up a charity sending midwives to India, a plan fraught with danger. Then Kit meets Anto, a trainee doctor from India nearing the end of his English education, and falls utterly in love. Marriage should be the easiest thing in the world, but when Anto informs his family that he is shortly to return home with an English bride, his parents are appalled. Despite being Anglo-Indian herself, Kit's own mother is equally horrified. She has spent most of her life trying to erase a painful past and losing her daughter to an Indian man is her worst fear realized. As they journey to a new life in India, Kit begins to understand the seriousness of what she has undertaken and just how much she has to learn about the nature of home and the depth of her love.

Reviews

A wonderful evocation of the rugged Welsh coastline and Catherine's home life * HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW on THE WATER HORSE * Lively, atmospheric novel ... the writing is skillful, vivid and explicit * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH on THE WATER HORSE * A tenderly told and wonderfully evocative story * DAILY EXPRESS on JASMINE NIGHTS * Exotic, decadent, dangerous and terrific storytelling * Fanny Blake, WOMAN & HOME on JASMINE NIGHTS * What a gorgeous read. Exciting, romantic, unpredictable and funny. I didn't want it to end. You'll crave curry for weeks. * Tracey Ullman on EAST OF THE SUN * This engaging novel perfectly captures the last days of the Raj * DAILY EXPRESS on EAST OF THE SUN * A sweeping romance between a young Indian doctor and a British midwife. * Good Housekeeping * Gregson draws on accounts of the experience of English midwives in India to weave a compelling tale of the complex ties of family, class and culture. * Booklist * Heartbreaking poignant lovestory set in post-war India * HEAT MAGAZINE * I adored this wonderful story. I loved the characters who leapt from the page and lived in my mind: I wept at the heart break, and my heart lifted at the hope and the joy. The depth of detail covering the life of an Indian family and the conflict between the two cultures was totally convincing. The big dramatic moments were terrific, but where it truly shone for me was in the small but telling moments when I felt as if I could see into the hearts and minds of the characters. I believed every word and from the moment I began reading I truly felt as if I was there. Astonishingly good -- Dinah Jefferies, author of THE TEA PLANTER'S WIFE

Author description

Julia Gregson's novel East of the Sun was chosen for the Richard and Judy TV Book Club and became a Sunday Times bestseller in the UK. Previously a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Times, Good Housekeeping, and Rolling Stone in the USA, Julia is married and lives in Monmouth. To find out more about Julia and her books, visit her website www.juliagregson.net or follow her on Twitter at @juliagregson