Travel to the Indian subcontinent with a new collection of Sujata Massey's suspenseful historical fiction. This boxed set includes four works described below:
OUTNUMBERED AT OXFORD. When Perveen Mistry leaves Bombay to study law at St. Hilda's College in 1919 Oxford, England, she hopes to escape her troubled past and become a pioneering woman lawyer. Then an elderly don tasks her with locating an Indian servant who may have stolen an invaluable mathematics proof. Perveen is caught in a case that threatens her ladylike reputation--and her life.
THE AYAH'S TALE. Menakshi Dutt, a teenaged nanny in 1920s Bengal, is a beloved caregiver of three lonely British children, but suffers from the cruelty of their bored mother. Will Menakshi ever fulfill her own dreams without betraying the children?
INDIA GRAY. Kamala Lewes, a recently-married Bengali woman, travels to Assam during World War II to volunteer at a military hospital. There she discovers some patients with ties to the Indian independence movement. How far can she go to help them without betraying her British husband and the Allies?
BITTER TEA. Shazia is fifteen and trapped in a remote village in Pakistan overtaken by religious fundamentalists. Her school has been closed, and women have lost freedom of movement. But when Shania learns a friend faces danger from the invaders, she decides to act.
Four unforgettable heroines in one book rich with history, culture and intrigue.
Recent Reviews:
"Clever Kamala is at front and center throughout, as Massey builds her coming of age tale around India as it moves toward independence, effectively combining personal narrative with the grandeur of a sweeping historical epic...The Sleeping Dictionary, an utterly engrossing tale of love, espionage, betrayal and survival, is historical fiction at its best, accessible to all audiences. Recommend to readers of Arundati Roy and Bharati Mukherjee".--BOOKLIST on THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY (starred review)
"Evocative descriptions of the late Raj period's Indian cultures, customs, cuisine, flora and fauna are narrated delightfully. Although this is essentially a story of love and human endurance, Massey, an award-winning author, has admirably woven the events of the Indian independence movement into the plot...this is an informative and entertaining historical novel."--HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY on THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY
"Sujata Massey beautifully depicts the life of an Indian ayah and the complicated relationships that people in the employ of their colonial masters had to deal with. Even though Menakshi endures great hardships in her life, she feels love in these pages and the prospect of a more hopeful future..."---MARIE'S BOOK GARDEN on THE AYAH'S TALE
"Massey deftly plays with several strong threads, each of which gives a certain heft to the story. She explores the relationship between parents and children, Indians and British, upper and lower classes, hope and hopelessness, India and abroad, stories and reality. Read it to find out what speaks to you most."--SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN on THE AYAH'S TALE
This boxed set is approximately 67,000 words long. It will also release as a single trade paperback in December, 2015.
Genre: Historical
OUTNUMBERED AT OXFORD. When Perveen Mistry leaves Bombay to study law at St. Hilda's College in 1919 Oxford, England, she hopes to escape her troubled past and become a pioneering woman lawyer. Then an elderly don tasks her with locating an Indian servant who may have stolen an invaluable mathematics proof. Perveen is caught in a case that threatens her ladylike reputation--and her life.
THE AYAH'S TALE. Menakshi Dutt, a teenaged nanny in 1920s Bengal, is a beloved caregiver of three lonely British children, but suffers from the cruelty of their bored mother. Will Menakshi ever fulfill her own dreams without betraying the children?
INDIA GRAY. Kamala Lewes, a recently-married Bengali woman, travels to Assam during World War II to volunteer at a military hospital. There she discovers some patients with ties to the Indian independence movement. How far can she go to help them without betraying her British husband and the Allies?
BITTER TEA. Shazia is fifteen and trapped in a remote village in Pakistan overtaken by religious fundamentalists. Her school has been closed, and women have lost freedom of movement. But when Shania learns a friend faces danger from the invaders, she decides to act.
Four unforgettable heroines in one book rich with history, culture and intrigue.
Recent Reviews:
"Clever Kamala is at front and center throughout, as Massey builds her coming of age tale around India as it moves toward independence, effectively combining personal narrative with the grandeur of a sweeping historical epic...The Sleeping Dictionary, an utterly engrossing tale of love, espionage, betrayal and survival, is historical fiction at its best, accessible to all audiences. Recommend to readers of Arundati Roy and Bharati Mukherjee".--BOOKLIST on THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY (starred review)
"Evocative descriptions of the late Raj period's Indian cultures, customs, cuisine, flora and fauna are narrated delightfully. Although this is essentially a story of love and human endurance, Massey, an award-winning author, has admirably woven the events of the Indian independence movement into the plot...this is an informative and entertaining historical novel."--HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY on THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY
"Sujata Massey beautifully depicts the life of an Indian ayah and the complicated relationships that people in the employ of their colonial masters had to deal with. Even though Menakshi endures great hardships in her life, she feels love in these pages and the prospect of a more hopeful future..."---MARIE'S BOOK GARDEN on THE AYAH'S TALE
"Massey deftly plays with several strong threads, each of which gives a certain heft to the story. She explores the relationship between parents and children, Indians and British, upper and lower classes, hope and hopelessness, India and abroad, stories and reality. Read it to find out what speaks to you most."--SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN on THE AYAH'S TALE
This boxed set is approximately 67,000 words long. It will also release as a single trade paperback in December, 2015.
Genre: Historical
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Used availability for Sujata Massey's India Gray