East of the Sun: A Novel [Paperback]

Julia Gregson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2009

In the rich tradition of The Jewel in the Crown and The Far Pavilions, this sweeping international bestseller from a major new talent captures the lives of three young women on their way to a new life in india during the 1920s.

Chosen as a Richard and Judy Summer Reading Pick before its UK publication in 2008, East of the Sun was guaranteed to be a bestseller before it even appeared, so magnificent was its scope and literary voice. Graced with lavish detail and a penetrating sensitivity, this is historical fiction at its greatest.

As the Kaisar-I-Hind weighs anchor for Bombay in the autumn of 1928, its passengers ponder their fate in a distant land. They are part of the “Fishing Fleet”—the name given to the legions of English women who sail to India each year in search of husbands, heedless of the life that awaits them. The inexperienced chaperone Viva Holloway has been entrusted to watch over three unsettling charges. There’s Rose, as beautiful as she is naÏve, who plans to marry a cavalry officer she has met a mere handful of times. Her bridesmaid, Victoria, is hell-bent on losing her virginity en route before finding a husband of her own. And shadowing them all is the malevolent presence of a disturbed schoolboy named Guy Glover.

From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites to the poverty of Tamarind Street, from the sooty streets of London to the genteel conversation of the Bombay Yacht Club, East of the Sun takes us back to a world we hardly understand but yearn to know. This is a book that has it all: glorious detail, fascinating characters, and masterful storytelling.

Editorial Reviews

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

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439101124
• ISBN-13: 978-1439101124
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passionate Tale set in the waning days of British Raj, June 5, 2009

By 

Cherchezlafemme (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: East of the Sun: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

East of the Sun is the story of warm, steamy, conflicted India through the eyes of three young Englishwomen. In 1928, Viva, Rose and Tor journey from England aboard a P&O steamer as what was colloquially known as the "Fishing Fleet"--that is, the young English ladies who went to India to catch a husband. With vivid, gorgeous prose, Gregson weaves a heartbreaking and suspenseful tale of love, politics and gender.

Viva, the elder of the trio, is haunted by her lost family, Rose, the beautiful sunny creature who has made a match with a stranger, and Tor, who has the wrong body shape for the 1920s and suffers from a critical mother, each struggle to find their place in the world, to find who they are as women, and to understand what it is life wants from them. This journey is painful--physically and mentally. The knowledge each woman must face is not sugar-coated, nor are the ending wrapped up in neat little packages.

Their journey is told against the backdrop of the Raj's last gasps for breath. Gandhi has become influential in India, and his nonviolent demonstrations and the conflict between white and brown, Muslim and Hindu, is frightening in its intensity. The questions raised in the book remain unanswered to this day, particularly the effects of the Raj on both the Indians and the British. Vivi in particular is caught in this maelstrom due first to a mentally-disturbed ex-charge, and secondly to her discovery of the multitude of abandoned and homeless Indian children.

Gregson packs a lot into this story: the every day lives of sahibs and memsahibs, the social pecking order, the restlessness of young women freed from pre-WWI constraints, and so on, but it is done so wonderfully that the pages fly by quickly. And though this is historical fiction, there are really good bits of romance in the book, and the trials faced by Vivi, Rose and Tor in their pursuit of finding themselves earns that romance. From beginning to end, the story is engrossing, and don't be shocked to find the book keeps you awake into all hours of the night!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable picture of colonia India, May 10, 2009

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: East of the Sun: A Novel (Paperback)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty and Down to Earth Historical Romance, June 21, 2009

By 

fiber farmer (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: East of the Sun: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

East of the Sun is a story, essentially, about 3 women, set in British occupied India. Viva, the chaperone with some hefty personal baggage, takes on the task of escorting Victoria (Tor) and Rose, along with a young man named Guy Glover, to Bombay, India. Rose will be marrying a man she barely knows, Tor will be her bride's maid and stay on to participate in the social season to try and win a husband, and Guy is returning to his parents after 10 years away in boarding school in England. Viva is returning to India to reconnect with her past and find freedom as an independent writer.

The characters are vivid and well developed. Each of their stories is told in well metered detail that keeps the reader wanting more as things progress. Viva's story, in particular, is the most cryptic with answers to her personal issues coming only at the end of the book.

I love books about India and this one does not disappoint. The descriptions of the Indian people, countryside and the stifling summer heat are detailed enough to create atmosphere, but not enough to bore. While the story is entirely character focused, there is enough of India in it to make it interesting and exotic.

I also love historical fiction, even though I'm not a history academic. It seems that the author had done enough research to make the history and the story flow together seamlessly.

What I don't love is romance. However, while this book qualifies as a romance, I didn't see it that way. It's more gritty and less emotional than most romances. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of emotion in the story, but the emotions are more down to earth and realistic than other romances I've trudged through. There is an element of danger in the story, imagined and actual, that places it in the action and mystery realm. Mental illness, political revolution, violence, deep regret and family mystery all play a part in the story. The romantic parts are tinged with a down to earth and gritty resolve that is seldom seen in romances. Rose's relationship with her stranger husband is a good example of this, as is Viva's recollections of her past love affair and her memories of her parents and sister.

OK, so the good guy does actually win in the end, the hero gets the girl and they all--well mostly all--live happily ever after. There was enough struggle, internal and imposed, in the story to warrant a happy ending, in my opinion, and it's nice to have one of those every now and then.