A compelling love story based on the author’s family.
An Indian doctor in the British army finds the love of his life in World War II Egypt.
In this novel based on family history, Sen fictionalizes the tale of her parents’ relationship. When Britain gets involved in World War II, young physician Santi Dutt leaves his home in Calcutta to join the military. He is assigned to a Gurkha regiment that visits several parts of the Middle East before ending up in Egypt. There, he meets Hedeya Khayat, a divorced mother of three who has been living in Cairo since her family fled the Armenian genocide three decades before. The two quickly form a bond, although Hedeya is hesitant to commit. When Santi’s regiment returns to battle, he and many of his fellow soldiers are captured by the Italians, and he spends months in a prison camp. He survives, and his path back to India takes him through Egypt again, where he seizes the chance to reconnect with Hedeya and convince her to marry him. The work’s concluding chapters describe the family’s life in the decades after the war’s end. Although the book is clearly a novel, with imagined dialogue, Sen also incorporates historical elements into the text, in many cases citing references to other works. At times, the result is narratively awkward (“In his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay, he would wryly recall this first encounter with Lt. Dutt”), but the information adds to the book’s rich historical backdrop. The inclusion of images from Santi’s and Hedeya’s youth also brings the story to life. Sen has done a good job of organizing and contextualizing her parents’ stories, moving the narrative forward and backward in time as needed to provide the necessary details, and the account of their relationship is an engaging one. The lengthy text does have its slow moments, particularly when historical asides dominate the plot and characters. But overall, Sen tells a captivating tale that brings a refreshing variety to the familiar concept of a soldier and his girl against the backdrop of World War II.
A compelling love story based on the author’s family.Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 9798987426302
Page Count: 567
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A bold laird and plenty of action and passion make for a perfect Highland romance.
A Highland warrior wins a battle but loses his heart in this novel.
Cain Sinclair has been raised to lead and conquer. His father, a brutal man who was rendered more unstable by the death of his wife, raised Cain and his three brothers as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And when his father dies in a heated battle with the Sutherland clan, Cain, the horseman of conquest, is more than ready to lead the Sinclairs and avenge the patriarch’s death. But this is easier said than done, as the chief of the Sutherlands and the person responsible for killing Cain’s father is the beautiful Arabella. In a game time decision driven by practicality and a good dose of lust, Cain decides that rather than kill Ella and beat the Sutherlands into submission, he’ll marry her instead to gain control of her clan. Predictably, Ella is not keen on her new role as a battle prize. Despite Cain’s efforts to woo her and her own feelings for him, she struggles to maintain her autonomy and win back her freedom, all while guarding a secret of her own. McCollum is a seasoned romance writer and knows her stuff. Does her latest novel break any new ground? No. Is it predictable? You bet. But it sure is an enjoyable read. Cain is the classic leading man; his gruff exterior is just a front for a protective and chivalrous heart. Ella is a familiar romantic heroine: a beautiful, smart, and spunky match for her main squeeze. Their love match is easy to root for, as the two protagonists have survived brutal and broken upbringings, leaving them with scars both inside and out. And while the plot moves right along, there are just the right number of steamy sex scenes to break things up a bit.
A bold laird and plenty of action and passion make for a perfect Highland romance. (glossary)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64063-747-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A charming and thoughtful Regency romance.
One lord flattens her life and the next one restores it.
Katrina Denby’s life has been ruined twice by the same man. Four seasons ago, Lord Landon tried to climb into her window, despite her complete lack of interest in him. Now, he’s tracked her down to the sleepy seaside resort on the Isle of Synne to do it again, and the problem is that, this time, he's fallen out of the window and died. Even though she’s been living quietly with her beloved dog, Mouse, as a companion to a dowager viscountess, her already-tenuous reputation is suddenly in tatters. She’s accepted the fact that at this point, she just needs to marry any man who’ll have her to avoid being completely shunned, but that changes when she learns that Sebastian, Duke of Ramsleigh, is in town. Both are shocked to see each other again, as their flirtations were on the verge of becoming more serious just before Lord Landon ruined her season. Unfortunately, Sebastian has had a rough few years as well and is now practically engaged, desperate to marry an heiress to save his bankrupt dukedom. He’s only on Synne at his future father-in-law’s request, charged with helping his soon-to-be fiancee’s brother, but both he and Katrina quickly forget the depths of their despair when they feel the flame they were stoking four years ago flare back into life. Though their chemistry is instantly obvious to everyone they know, there are real obstacles between them, so their connection is the driving force of the plot, giving the story an almost naïve sweetness through some difficult circumstances and a few steamy moments. Katrina and Sebastian are easy to root for, and the small-town setting provides a Regency backdrop that shows life at the beach could be as cruel as society in London—readers are advised to check the content warnings at the start of the book. Though the ending is almost unbelievably tidy, devoted historical romance readers will enjoy another trip to the Isle of Synne.
A charming and thoughtful Regency romance.Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781538710425
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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