Julia Gregson, East Of The Sun

East of the Sun

Julia Gregson

Touchstone, Jun 2 2009, $16.00

ISBN: 9781439101124

In 1928 twenty-five years old Viva Holloway is paying her passage to India by escorting three younger travelers; she heads to the "Gem of the Empire" to pick up her late parents personal things. Of her three charges: Rose Wetherby is going to marry; Victoria "Tor" Sowerby is her bridesmaid; and teen Guy Glover is going home after being expelled from school. Viva tires to hide her trepidation as she has no experience chaperoning or for that matter traveling as they sail the Kaiser-i-Hind to Bombay.

All four have their own secret agendas. Viva simply wants to survive the ordeal of being the one in charge. Rose hopes her cavalry officer loves her, but she is nervous because she knows nothing about him as they only met a few short chaperoned times. Tor hopes to find a husband on her "fishing fleet" tour. Finally Guy wants these femmes to leave him alone. When he loses his temper and attacks a prominent member of an Indian family, he sets in motion trouble for himself and his temporary guardian.

This is a fascinating historical tale that rotates perspective between the four prime characters so that the audience understands what motivates each of them. The story line starts slow as Julia Gregson introduces her fantastic four, but once the readers feel comfortable with the lead foursome, the plot moves briskly to a strong finish. Fans will enjoy this engaging look at life of young adults between the wars in the British Empire as the sun is starting to set.

Harriet Klausner

Generally a very good read, particularly, I suspect, for women readers. The novel has a wide span, both geographically and time wise, stretching from England to India in the 1920's, and successfully conjures up a long lost world, particularly for young women of that era. The voyage is well constructed, again enabling us to visit something that existed on our near ancestors' world.

A beutifully woven storey about the importance of love and friendship. Julia Gregson sypathetically writes about human nature and the differnt ways we deal with our emotions.

It's a good holiday book. However, the author refers to Abbott and Costello films on at least two occasions. Abbott and Costello films were not around until the 1940's. I wonder how many other facts she got wrong.

I absolutely loved this book! It's so beautifully written, I couldn't put it down! I would add that I've been inspired, although previously was not interested in the time period (1920's) nor location (India) . This book comes very highly recommended/!