East of the Sun: A Novel

✍ Scribed by Gregson, Julia

• Publisher: Touchstone;Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2008;2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 367 KB
• Edition: First Touchstone trade pbk. edition
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781439101124

✦ Synopsis

From Publishers Weekly

British author Gregson bows in America with her fast-paced second novel, an absorbing international period drama concerning three young Englishwomen and a troubled boy journeying to India in the late 1920s. The eldest at 25, Viva Holloway is an orphan hoping to retrieve her lost parents' personal effects; she's paying her way by chaperoning three younger travelers. Rose Wetherby is going to India to be married; Victoria Tor Sowerby is Rose's bridesmaid; and 16-year-old Guy Glover is returning home after getting expelled from school for stealing. Throughout, narrative shifts reveal the travelers' perspectives and fears: Viva is haunted by a childhood and family she barely remembers; Rose is growing increasingly nervous about how little she knows of her fiancé; and Tor is eager, after a disappointing deb season in London, to find a husband of her own and avoid returning to England. Guy's strange behavior makes it clear he's unstable, and before long, he's assaulted a member of a powerful Indian family, setting off a frightening chain of events for both himself and Viva. Gregson's rich imagery, strong characters and gripping plot make this a resonant page-turner. (June)
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Review

"I always wish for books like this, but they are rare -- a beautifully written, compelling saga that is impossible to put down. It's about ambition, love, survival, and the friendship of three women who leave England for the exotic and sometimes frightening adventure of India. Reading this is an escape to another place and time where friends and romance are waiting." -- Delia Ephron

"I felt like I'd packed a steamer trunk and was part of the group going out to India. What a gorgeous read. Exciting, romantic, unpredictable, and funny. I didn't want it to end." -- Tracey Ullman

“This is the kind of book I always hope to find…When I got to page 3, I wrote in my notes, ‘I may fall in love with this book.’ And I did.” – [Richmond] Record-Courier

✦ Subjects

A Novel