Review #11: Under the Jewelled Sky by Alison McQueen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After reading Under the Jewelled Sky by Alison McQueen, I can't stop myself from quoting Rumi, the Persian poet's remarkable words,

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”

If I've to express the book, Under the Jewelled Sky in few short words, then I would say:
Painful, raw and deeply moving!


Synopsis:
Let's move back to the time when India has got the power to overthrow the highly acclaimed British Empire from their land- the year is 1947! A sweet, innocent and pure love story blossoms between an English girl and an Indian servant boy inside a hugely lavish palace in Jaipur on the very day on India's independence.
Fast forward to 10years later, when we see that English girl Sophie getting married to a diplomat and settling back in New Delhi- the country which makes her heart skip a beat, to a country where she hid all her sweet memories in her closet of past dreams and hopes. Sophie's doctor father lives in Ooty and knows all about her fragile heart, but will she be able to keep her heart in place to make it work with her new husband? Has Sophie's heart stopped aching from the previous pain? Will the past haunt her upon her arrival to the country which made her feel the passion of a first love?

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Review #10: The City of Palaces by Sujata Massey

The City of Palaces by Sujata Massey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I always feel so ecstatic and proud whenever I get to read books about my own old city- Kolkata-a city where I was born, a city which I call 'Home'. Well I was born in Calcutta and grew up in Kolkata. The Nawabs and the British coined Calcutta as "The City of Palaces". But this proverb changed during the reign of Queen Victoria, and thus Calcutta changed to the sprawling, bustling capital of India. Dennison Berwick has quoted in his book, A Walk along the Ganges:

"There is poverty; there is squalor in so many places in our country (India). It is our disgrace. At least in Calcutta we have also culture and poetry."

And as Dominique Lapierre, the author of the book City of Joy has quoted:

"Calcutta produced more writers than Paris and Rome combined, more literary reviews than London and New York, more cinemas than New Delhi, and more publishers than the rest of the country."

I found another great author named Sujata Massey, a British author having Bengali roots, and when I stumbled upon her book named The City o Palaces, I never imagined that book will be so overwhelming and remarkable. I can bet that people of my city will go crazy over this book. Especially, given the fact that still to this day, Bengalis love to spin the tale of their old Calcutta during the British era to their grandsons and daughters. Being a Bengali, I had also the privilege to inherit such tales about the British era from my grandparents. And reading this book, I felt nostalgic, about all those old stories that my grandparents used to share with me.

I cannot thank enough to Penguin India and especially the author, Sujata Massey, for giving me this golden opportunity to read and review her new novel, The City of Palaces.

This book is about a journey of a young girl to her womanhood which is so profound and striking that it's going to melt your heart and soul and will make your heart fall badly for the city as well as for this young woman.

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