Customer Reviews

The Moonlit Cage: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1845 Afghanistan, Darya dreams of freedom to do whatever she wants including reading the Qur'an in public and visit some of the locations she has heard about mostly from her grandmother. However, Darya knows that is a fantasy because a female must obey males. Over the next decades her father is outraged by her behavior as he considers her wicked, but it is his second wife Suluma who takes action by cursing her and arranging for her father to sell her to the abusive son of a nomadic tribe chief.

Desperate to escape her even tighter bonds, Darya flees. English expatriate David Ingram escorts her to Bombay where he leaves her as he continues on the England. However, Darya misses the kind Ingram, who she loves. She arranges to travel to London escorted by Osric Bull, who has other plans for the exotic beauty.

The Asian chapters are superb insightful look at the mid-nineteenth century even filtered through the heroine's perspective. The story line remains strong when Darya travels with Bull, but loses some of the uniqueness that will stun the audience as the Afghan tribal culture insures that the role of women is to pleasure men. When she reaches 1850s London, Darya anticipates freedom only to find a single female still has almost no rights as high society assumes they are there to ease a man's burden. Her revelation keeps her fresh as THE MOONLIT CAGE is a fabulous historical tale that fans will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner

I grabbed this book right before our camping vacation in the great Canadian countryside--well-- what a journey!The book that is! I couldn't put The Moonlit Cage down and was glued to it for a full three days. The descriptions of the journey of this incredibly drawn young Afghan woman just blew me away. I actually could visulize and almost smell and hear the many scenes that this book takes you through--from Tajik nomadic tribe, Khandahar, the Hindu Kush,northern Pakistan,India and 19th Century customs and culture/including the British Empire's political and cultural influence. Topping this historical novel is the intertwining of a romance that really does surprise and compell the reader on.It's probably one of the best historical(and geographic) reads that I've enjoyed.

This is a very well written book,however there is so much sadness in this book that it makes you wonder if this author is as sad. The character in this book is very strong young lady. She has to deal with so much pain and sorrow and shame,it is a wonder she could still hold her head up after it was all said and done. If you are looking for a happy book this is not the one to read. However, it will make you hope things will get better for the young lady. One cannot help but admire this young lady's strength and stamina and her tenacity to get away to a better place.

Every once in a while you come across a book that offers you the chance to enter into someone else's world, share their thoughts and experiences, and come away feeling that you have met an extraordinary person, one who stays with you even after you have finished their story. The Moonlit Cage is such a book. Linda Holeman has done such a wonderful job in creating the character of Darya that I was sorry to finish the book and still wanted to know more about what happens next. Not only were the characters beautifully created but the sights and sounds of 19th century Afganistan, India and London as well. If you enjoy historical fiction with a twist, stories of self-discovery, or a good romance, you won't be disappointed by this book.

Wonderful story. I could not put it down. Darya is an Afghani girl and the book follows her life from childhood with an abusive father to a marriage with an abusive man and then her slavery to an abusive Englishman. Note I have used the word abusive 3 times. I gave this engrossing book only 4 stars instead of 5 because there is not a moment of happiness or pleasure in this young girls life until page 475. How many beatings and degradations can a woman really handle? Truly, a heart wrenching tale. I was on the edge of my seat wondering who was going to beat her next and what country she was going to flee to this time. Very admirable how the character still rises above it all and spreads her wings so to speak tho. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a story about a blunt, head strong, strong minded woman, but caution to those who cannot handle abuse. There are moments you want to throw the book into the television in anger.

This wonderful historical novel takes place in Afghanistan in the early 1800s and allows us entry into the tragic and sad life of one young woman who is seriously abused by her own father and husband. The reader gets a clear picture and portrayal of what life had to offer women in the middle east at that time, and of the trilas they were made to suffer through. This is a tragic, yet inspiring novel; one of adventure & bravery, one that ends in love and hope.

This is also a story that shows how the human soul can endure the harshest of hardships and still prevail. The story is beautifully written and extremely evocative of the time and palce amongst the desert sand, the swaying camels, of pomegranates and palm trees, and of intense unrelenting heat. I loved this novel and can't wait to read other books by this talented author.

Honestly, this was one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read. It opened up a whole new world to me, one that I hardly knew anything about until now. It gave a lot of facts about Afghanistan and India in the 1800's, but not so much that it was more of a non-fiction book. The characters were so incredibly well drawn. Especially Darya, who is one of the strongest, bravest heroines I have ever read about. David was just too amazing for words and Shaliq and Osric were just horrible villains. This story was dripping with deep romance, one that will keep you reading this book just to find out what happens.

The only complaint I have about this book was that it was very slow. They story was great, but it moved along slowly, and I think the author could have taked out some parts to make it tighter and more concise. But despite this, it was still and amazing read into the mysterious world of a Muslim woman, one who was determined to live her life and change it for the better.

Beautifully written. The carachters were so real. A story of love, hate, duty to family even tho it was unfair and cruel.

Having read the author's previous novel, I was eager to embark on her second literary journey. What a wonderful trip! The Moonlit Cage is well researched with a plausible story line and multi-dimensional characters; chock full of interesting and provocative historical detail that stirs the imagination. I read long into the night----several nights! Darya is a testement to the human spirit and all it can, and does, endure. Patiently waiting for this author's next offering.

I don't often review books on amazon, and I've never reviewed one I've given less than five stars, but because I bought this book on the strength of the other two reviews here, I thought it might be worth adding a few words of moderation.

I've given the book three stars because the first half - that is, up until Darya reaches Bombay - is wonderful: original, infomative, stay-up-all-night-reading kind of stuff. And in fact, while reading it, I was busy recommending this book to everyone I know.

A few days later, I was busy retracting it all. After Bombay, the story degenerates into noirish melodrama, stretching out what isn't really much of a plot, apparently to fit in a number of 'shocking' revelations that are in fact entirely predictable. More annoying still, with the entrance of the mawkish Mr. Bull, the formerly engaging Darya and David suddenly morph into tedious, Mills & Boon type characters who can't seen to get off their own bums to help themselves.

It's probably impossible to say more without giving things away, but the upshot is, while the first half of this novel is indeed rich in detail, well-written and quite informative about Afghan culture, if you're not up for two hundred pages of turgid quasi-romance with a little Raj-era depravity thrown in, then think twice before clicking...