Customer Reviews

The India Fan

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The central character of the book is Drusilla Delany. From her childhood Drusilla's life had been dominated by the Framling's - Lady Harriet, her son Fabian and her daughter Lavinia.

As a child Drusilla had played with Lavinia, and later they are sent away together to a finishing school in France. There Lavinia's wild and wayward behaviour leads them both into trouble.

After marrying, Lavinia leaves England for India, and later Drusilla accepts an opportunity to join her there as governess to Lavinia's children.

Arriving in Bombay Drusilla finds that Lavinia has not learned from her previous disasters.

The story moves between England, France and India and covers the period of the Indian Mutiny against the British in the mid 19th century. It is written mainly in the 1st person.

I didn't think this story would interest me, but I was enjoyably surprised; I think because the story is so well written.

Victoria Holt was one of the pseudonyms of Eleanor Alice Burford. After marrying she became Eleanor Alice Hibbert. Others she wrote under included Jean Plaidy, Ellalice Tate, Kathleen Kellow, Elbur Ford, Philippa Carr. She wrote almost 200 books under these names!

Her books are VERY addictive!

Sadly, most of her books are out of print at the date of this review. Some can be purchased on the Internet or from second-hand bookshops.

This book is AMAZING! Ms. Holt did a wonderful job decribing Drusilla's feelings and the setting in which the book takes place. It's about a vicar's daughter who gets forced into becoming friends with selfish Lavinia Framling and helps her out in many ways ( like helping Lavinia through her pregnency of an ilegimate daughter ). Drusilla is faced with many problems throughout the book. One problem, deciding if she loves Fabian Framlimg ( Lavina's older brother ) who has admitted his feelings for her! This is a book that you will only find once in a life time. If you like Victoria Holt and romantic suspense and mystery than this book is for you! I will read this book probably 100 times and NEVER get sick of it! Yes, that's how good it is! READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rank The India Fan as one of Victoria Holt's best. Drusilla is an excellent narrator and as in Holt's best, the romance doesn't blindside you out of nowhere, nor does the "hea" seem incongruous because we're shown Fabian's growth and love for her through their interactions. And as is apparent in most of Holt's novels, The India Fan doesn't stint on the lush, vivid descriptions of Indian life and the massacre at Lucknow.

I simply loved this novel. It is one of those rare books that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I read it in one because I could not put it down. I recommend this to anyone looking for a a good suspense/romance.

This was the very first Victoria Holt book I read! It was great! This book hooked me on Victoria Holt and now I am a big fan of her's. A must READ

I have read about 15 of her books under the name of Victoria Holt, the "India Fan" has got to be the best one I've read. She keeps you in suspence, I laughed and cried. You really feel like your there with the characters, read this book!

This was the first V.H. I read and I loved it.This books different from the rest.I have read nearly 15 V.H.'s but this was the best.This was what made me pick the other's up.I must have read this book 50 times and loved it more each time.I picked it from the library so I tried to buy it but unfortunately I couldn't get it.Nearly everyone in my whole class has read it and each one has loved it. This is just gorgeous.The characters are potrayed so well that you can almost feel the story going on in front of your eyes. This is my all time favorite and I have yet to come across a better book. And I have checked out lots of writers! In my opinion everyone must check it out.But alas! opinions do differ.RIGHT?

I read this book on a car tip and wasn't able to put it down, I was so into the story. Fabian, Drusilla, Lavinia, and the other characters are so real. You travel from England to France, then back to England, and finally to India. I would have liked to learn more about Miss Lucielle, but all in all this book was great! I recommend all Victoria Holt books...I'm 13 and I love them! I'm also into V.C. Andrews, and Victoria Holt's style was almost like VCA's.

i was very impressed with Victoria Holt's storytelling capabilities. She just takes you on a journey through someone's entire lifetime. I was fascinated throughout the entire book. I never believed that i would read such a story. Over all the books that i have read for years, this is my favorite.

This was my first Victoria Holt novel. There were things I liked and things I disliked about the book. I really liked the main characters. They were vividly described and stayed true to who they were throughout the book. The story had places it caught hold of me and flew and was so interesting. I learned about a time period I didn't have much knowledge of before. I did like the whole idea of the story and was happy with the ending. But oh my gosh it took forever to get there. There was a lot that could have been left out of this book. My greatest annoyance was the repetition in the writing, the reader is told the same thing twice before the author moves on. The conversations between the characters were dizzying circles that made me so irritated. And there were parts that lagged.It was hard to get into the first part of the book and then when it climaxed in the middle of the book there was a resolution but then a whole new chapter of her life started and that was a little slow going for a while. I understand when I think of it why the author included all the info it did make the story deeper and gave the characters depth you wouldn't get if she shortened it. I wanted to give it 3 and a half stars but alas that is not possible so it's a three star for me cause I don't think I will pick up this author again.