East of the Sun

A good read for a rainy day

A quiet read for a 'stay-at-home with a warm blanket and purring cat on my lap' day. The storyline was interesting (but felt long).

I took a long time to warm up to most of the characters. I didn't really feel I developed a deeper understanding of India although I did feel I had a better sense of what it might have been like to be a young British woman during that time in that place.

The take-away for me was centered around the orphanage. Good-hearted people trying to help fill a desperate need in constructive ways may in fact create more problems than solutions.

The book ended on an overall good note. I appreciated that.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a fascinating historical tale

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

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

New and interesting...

I know a book is good when I find myself thinking about the characters long after I've finished the book and moved on to a new one. That has definitely been the case with East of the Sun. Julia Gregson portrays the journey numerous English women made across the ocean to India in the 1920s and 30s (pre-WWII) looking for love... or at least a husband. Ever since reading The Secret Garden as a young girl, I've been fascinated by this concept of the British in India. Aayahs and Mem Sahibs... it's all so luxurious and arrogant! This story was especially interesting for its character development. Each character was actually somewhat annoying to me in that none of them really had their head on straight. They were all just a little off-- but aren't we all. I especially identified with the main character, Viva Halloway who is torn between her drive to be valuable and valued as an individual (even as a woman) and her desire to feel connected to a man and to a family.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable...and educational read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a Great Read

The books first few pages have awkwardly written sentences, but dont let that throw you off, this is a great read!! It is a good long book that you just SAIL through. You feel like you have been on a journey to a distant land and more innocent time. It is all at once exciting and touching. You really care about the characters and that is the thread that keeps propelling you through this book. No slow middle here.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

An intriguing and epic read!

This may be the first book of the year to earn the title of Epic Read. To me, an Epic Read is a book where I could easily imagine a full series out of the storylines. That doesn't mean that I think the story would have been better in a multiple book format, it simply means that this book was jam packed with storyline and kept me intrigued for days.

East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson, had a main storyline and multiple branching storylines that really keep the reader involved. This is part of what made the book so wonderful to me. We begin with the story of Viva, an orphaned woman who carries a great deal of pain with her. She is quite, unwilling to share herself with others and broken by passed tragedy. In East of the Sun, we follow Viva as she makes a life altering decision to act as a Chaperone to a group of young adults travelling to India. She hopes to make a new life for herself in this exotic land, but what she finds there may be much more than she is prepared to handle. Will she be able to protect and guide the girls she is chaperoning on their journey to this exciting country?

Gregson does an amazing job of creating a complex world with the various stories and yet always finds a way to pull everything together into one cohesive element. Each character complements the story and adds a layer of mystery and suspense to an already juicy plot. One thing that I absolutely loved about the book was that we didn't really have to think too hard about what time we were in throughout the chapters. Many chapters had the location and year under the chapter number. As much as we jump around India and characters, these locations and years really helped to keep our perspective in check. In addition, this book covers a long period of time and the dates help us to view how our characters have changed and grown over time. I won't go into too much detail about the time and where the story takes us as I don't want to give anything away, but be prepared for a lot of character development to happen. In one way, that is a large purpose of the book; we get to see how our trio of friends develop over time in relation to themselves and each other.

One thing that did catch me up a couple times throughout the book was the action. Gregson did an amazing job of creating suspense, tense scenes that pulled us along until finally breaking free into some glorious action. On more than one occasion, however, Gregson would set the tension, slowing building anticipation, pulling our emotions like a rubber band stretching just to the point of breaking...and then she'd suddenly drop the rubber band, leaving us without the release of the pop as we watch it gently flutter to the ground. There was more than one scene where I felt that the unwinding of the scene was fairly anticlimactic. Perhaps that was the point, I'm unsure. The story was still magnificent (and it's easy to use that word in relation to this book), but I think it might have been even better if we'd received full resolution to the tension she built throughout the stories.

I recommend this book to everyone. It was a fantastic read that kept me coming back for more. I often found that I couldn't set the book down because every time I thought I would find a stopping point, allowing me to put it down for the evening; I would get caught up again. It really is an epic adventure and one that will stick around for a while.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

mixed review

I didnt dislike the book but i cant give it a rave. It was a bit too long...500 pages

involving, great read!

I loved this book, such an involving story that was hard to put down, I could imagine myself there in the place and time.

Interesting book with boring end.

I really enjoyed 75% of this book. The rest reminded me cheap love story with very predictable happy ending. still I recomend it.

The setting is wonderful

Some books I read for plot, some for character; this one I read for setting. The romance of the ocean voyage from Britain to India--How did they ever pack enough clothes in those steamer trunks for all those parties?; the beauty of India; the squalor of Indian cities--I could literally smell the cooking odors embedded in Viva's walls. In order to pay her own voyage back to India where she lived as a child, the main character Viva, a young English woman, hires herself out as chaperon for two other young women and a young man. The characters are interesting, but not enthralling. Gregson attempts to create a "thrilling" plot by having Guy, the young man Viva chaperons, become obsessed with her and stalk her after they arrive in India. The attempt fails and the plot never held my attention as the setting did. This novel shines in the historical and physical details of the setting that Gregson has so beautifully captured.

Fantastic!

What a great book. I could not put it down!
I highly recommend this read.

East of the Sun

Set in the 1920's, East of the Sun details the lives of 3 young women as they sail from London and travel to India in search of a better future for themselves. Rose is a beautiful, naïve young bride-to-be destined to wed a cavalry officer she barely knows. Her best friend, Victoria is traveling with her as a bridesmaid. Victoria is using this opportunity to find a place for herself in society and find a man of her own. Viva is an aspiring writer who once lived in India. When orphaned as a young girl, she was sent to London. She now wants to go back to India to find answers about her childhood. Viva is hired to oversee the safe journey of Rose and Victoria along with a disturbed young man named Guy aboard the ship to Bombay.
The locations provide a well crafted backdrop for this story to unfold. London is a town of hustle and bustle. To be a member of high society provides a lure to those on the lower rung of the society ladder. The ship Kaisar-i-Hind is a floating oasis providing the opportunity for the main characters to interact and to get to know one another on a different level. India is the final destination. The country is in the infancy of the Gandhi movement. Poverty is rampant. Each individual tries to find their place in this exotic foreign land.
The author resisted the temptation to overshadow the three young women by making the locations and history the main focus of this book. The background and politics act only as a catalyst in showcasing the true strength of this story, which is the development of each of the characters. Chapter by chapter Rose, Victoria and Viva grow before our very eyes. We see Rose emerge from a naïve young girl to a woman of strength. Viva and Victoria find themselves at odds with their own convictions and grow in ways they would never have foreseen.
This book is summed up best with a quote from Viva. Rose questions Viva in regard to her impression of India. Viva responds, "It's like a vast onion: every layer you unpeel shows you something else you didn't know about it, or yourself." What a treat to read this story and watch this wonderful metamorphosis of these marvelous characters.

Interesting historical novel, but it ain't James Clavell

A bit too much of a chick book for me. But I'm a guy. Most gals will probably love this one.

Great Book

This was a great book! A very pleasant surprise.

Excellent!

East of the Sun is an amazing novel that first takes place aboard a ship bound for India and then in Bombay and various other parts of India. In 1928, three young women head to India for different reasons. Rose is engaged to be married to a cavalry officer, Jack, whom she barely knows. Tor, is her best friend and bridesmaid, and is being sent by her mother after failing to secure a husband during the London season, to try her hand during the season in India. "Most come after the London season is over and where, presumably they have fallen at the first fence of that glorified marriage market. India, where men of their class outnumber women by three to one, will be their last chance to find a husband"
And then there is Viva, headed to India, where she lived as a child to pick up a trunk that belonged to her now deceased parents. Viva acts as chaperone to Rose and Tor as a way to get her passage paid to India. Viva is also chaperone to Guy, a disturbed sixteen year old boy, kicked out of boarding school and being sent to live with his parents.
Rose is homesick for her parents and unhappy in her marriage but keeps this to herself and tries for the best. Tor wants never to go home and to desperately find a husband after a failed romance and to travel and have fun. Viva longs for adventure, independence, to be a writer and to be brave. The stories of these young women are set against the backdrop of British-occupied India, in the time of Gandhi, when the people of India want to rule their own country. Through Tor, living with a wealthy acquaintance of her mother's, we see the rich socialites and through Viva, working at an orphanage, we see the poverty and slums of the cities. When the girls' travel, the author writes vividly descriptive passages of the countryside that made me long for travel.
The story is well-written and expertly weaves romance, danger, humor, social commentary, friendship, and, most importantly, self-discovery throughout the pages. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this as a must-read.
http://bookmagic418.blogspot.com/

Enjoyable journey to India

East of the Sun revolves around the lives of three young Englishwomen bound for India. Each is traveling with a different purpose: Viva, the young inexperienced chaperone, projects an air of mystery and hopes to retrieve personal effects belonging to her deceased parents; Rose, naïve and caring, is engaged to marry a man she met only a handful of times; and, Victoria, bridesmaid to Rose, is just running away - she cannot stand her current environment and wants out - she is looking for a husband, a magic panacea for all her woes. They are considered to be part of the fishing fleet - a term used to describe the Englishwomen who come searching for a husband, unsure of what they will find in this distant land. In addition to the two women, Viva has a third charge, Guy - a loose cannon to say the least - who is returning home after being expelled from school.
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The characters were interesting and likable. Each chapter is dedicated to one character and we slowly learn more and more about them. Transitioning between characters from chapter to chapter was seamless and done well. The format and short chapter lengths were just right. At the end of each chapter, I would look at the length of the next to see if I had time to read another (and another and another and .). I wanted to know what would happen to these characters and had to have things wrapped up before I stopped reading. We see the personal growth of each character. They all reach some pivotal dark turning point in their lives and come out on the other side - the reader must decide for themselves whether or not it was for better or worse.
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Overall, I liked the novel and recommend to those who enjoy historical fiction and/or romance style novels. This is a long book; however, it is a quick read - which you will enjoy.

The perfect "take me away from it all" read

India at the twilight of the British Raj is one of the richest periods in history for exotically-inclined writers and Julia Gregson has done her research impeccably. I LOVED this book---engaging characters, interesting themes, a great sense of place, and lots of wonderfully accurate historical details. Just perfect to escape while feeling that your brain isn't turning to mush.

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