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India

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Leyland
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Post by Leyland » Fri July 17th, 2009, 10:26 pm

Another novel that may be considered recent HF is Rumer Godden's The Peacock Spring. The setting is New Delhi in 1959.

http://www.amazon.com/Peacock-Spring-Ru ... 399&sr=1-1
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Leo62
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Post by Leo62 » Fri July 17th, 2009, 10:48 pm

Gotta namecheck A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. A big fat brick of a book, but a total joy.

annis
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Post by annis » Sat July 18th, 2009, 12:35 am

I'm just reading and enjoying David Leavitt's novel "The Indian Clerk", a moving but ultimately tragic tale set in the early twentieth century, and based on a true story.

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drspoon
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Post by drspoon » Tue August 25th, 2009, 6:43 pm

"A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry is about 4 people who become friends and victims of circumstance and life in 1970s India. It's wonderful and devastating and definitely not for the faint of heart.
Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?" - Henry Ward Beecher

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love_uk
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Location: Milwaukee & Northumberland

Post by love_uk » Sun November 29th, 2009, 8:09 am

[quote=""Misfit""]
My favs,

The Far Pavilions
Shadow of the Moon
Zemindar
Olivia and Jai
Veil of Illusion (sequen to O&J)
Shalimar [/quote]

Misfit,

Seeing this sent me back to re-read Olivia & Jai - which I have always loved. Suprised at how much darker it seemed this time around. Am now anxious to read The Veil of Illusion - I had no idea she'd written a sequel! Must find & read soon! Thanks!

Am also a big MM Kaye fan - at least where her Indian sagas are concerned.
Who is the author of Shalimar??
Joan

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sun November 29th, 2009, 12:46 pm

[quote=""love_uk""]Misfit,

Seeing this sent me back to re-read Olivia & Jai - which I have always loved. Suprised at how much darker it seemed this time around. Am now anxious to read The Veil of Illusion - I had no idea she'd written a sequel! Must find & read soon! Thanks!

Am also a big MM Kaye fan - at least where her Indian sagas are concerned.
Who is the author of Shalimar??[/quote]

Rebecca Ryman also wrote Shalimar. Veil of Illusion is good but if you must have a picture perfect HEA you might want to leave well enough alone.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

Chatterbox
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Post by Chatterbox » Sun November 29th, 2009, 6:33 pm

The John Shors book is a waste of time, IMO.
Rumer Godden, although mostly recent (around Indian independence, just before & into the 60s), is excellent. Not always written contemporaneously. The Peacock Spring was my fave book when I was about 14; written in the 70s about events in the 1950s. There's also Black Narcissus, The Dark Horse (a story I loved), and several others. A very underrated author.
There does seem to be relatively little 'historical' fiction set in India. Wonder if there is more that never gets published outside the country?
A couple more entrants:
Julia Gregson, East of the Sun
Gita Mehta -- Raj (which is excellent, IMO)
Geoffrey Trease, Land of the Mogul (YA)
Barbara Cleverly -- some of her first books are set in colonial India, historical mysteries in the early 1920s (Damascened Blade, etc.)
Ellis Peters has some mysteries set there in the 60s, roughly (judging by the events they deal with). "Mourning Raga" and Death to the Landlords.
I know that some of the Indian fiction I've read is historical, but my brain is blanking on me.

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love_uk
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Dear Misfit

Post by love_uk » Wed December 9th, 2009, 3:50 am

[quote=""Misfit""]Rebecca Ryman also wrote Shalimar. Veil of Illusion is good but if you must have a picture perfect HEA you might want to leave well enough alone.[/quote]

HEA???? Please translate! :confused:
Joan

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Wed December 9th, 2009, 4:52 am

HEA stands for 'Happily Ever After'.

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Kasthu
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Post by Kasthu » Sun May 20th, 2012, 12:46 am

Reviving an old thread to talk about one of my new favorites--I know Shadow of the Moon has been mentioned, which I read about a month ago and LOVED. Also have Olivia and Jai on the TBR, and Zemindar, by Valerie Fitzgerald.

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