A hotel in southern India is home to a host of romantic intrigues and human misadventures in this delightful novel from a New York Times-bestselling author. Over a decade before The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, award-winning author Rumer Godden was delighting readers with the exploits of the residents and staff at a quaint getaway resort in southern India. Wily and winning Anglo-Indian hotel …
Wily and winning Anglo-Indian hotel owner Auntie Sanni has entertained all manner of guests during her many years as hostess at Patna Hall, a popular vacation spot on the lush Coromandel coast. Now, with an election coming, business is especially brisk, and her hotel is packed with Indian politicians, British diplomats, journalists, American tourists–even a donkey, an elephant, and a woman of mystery or two.
Among the vacationers are Mary and Blaise, a young English couple on their honeymoon. But where Mary is enchanted by the colors, sounds, and vibrant Indian life, prim and priggish Blaise sees only squalor, sordidness, and a Coromandel Sea teeming with sharks.
Matters are only made worse when Mary becomes interested in local Indian politics–particularly the handsome, exquisitely spoken candidate Krishnan, whose kindness and wisdom are like a balm for her spirit. As tensions between the newlyweds continue to mount, even resourceful Auntie Sanni may not be able to forestall potential unpleasantness or prevent it from escalating into tragedy.
The acclaimed author of Black Narcissus and The River returns readers once again to her beloved India with a novel brimming with heart, wit, unforgettable characters, and “a sense of timelessness reminiscent of E. M. Forster” (The Times, London).
This ebook features an illustrated biography of the author including rare images from the Rumer Godden Literary Estate.
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So interesting- I’ve read it twice. Love R. Godden and her books on India. Such a different world. She grew up in India.
This was Historical fiction about India and I like that sort of thing so I liked it a lot it might not be what everyone likes set in the times right after World War II but I thought it was a great read and would recommend it
This read like an Edwardian novel but was written in the early 1990s. It truly felt like another time, and I loved the exotic setting. Not sure the main female character could actually exist as such an innocent in the 90s. She seemed a little unbelievable to me. But loved the story anyway.
I was right there in India.
I love anything Rumer Godden writes.
Rumer Godden always excellent
Very good book by a fascinating author.
Rumer Godden is always great!
As one who recently lived 20 years in India, and who as a youngster (admittedly about 50 years ago) read and loved Rumor Godden, I was eager to read this novel: my home was on the Coromandel coast, I expected nostalgia. Instead, I could barely make myself finish the novel. All the characters except possibly the Auntie who ran the hotel were shallow, self-absorbed stereotypes, caricatures of potentially interesting figures. Particularly unbearable was the young newly married woman, self-indulgent and not wise, just kind of silly and adolescent. In the end she matured a tad, but still not to a point of being interesting. The politician posing as a god-man was a disappointment as there are far more complex personalities that fit that role and could become intriguing. Never mind; the story is predictable and disappointing. So much for my happy memories of Rumor Godden’s work. Maybe it was my youth at the time that made them palatable.
My mother recommended Rumer Godden’s books to me. After we both finished a book, we would often discuss it. RG ‘s books were set in exotic locales and had well developed characters involved in plots that were difficult to predict. I can’t believe that I found one of her books that I hadn’t yet read. Like her other books, this one didn’t disappoint.
not as good as Marigold Hotel
I guess I’m “unabashedly sentimental”–who knew??? Those are the words the Kirkus book review service used to describe Rumer Godden’s 1991 novel Coromandel Sea Change, while also admitting that the book is enormously entertaining–and I loved every word of it. Godden’s “Grand Hotel on a Bengali beach” begins with the arrival of hotelier “Auntie” Sanni’s guests at Patna Hall on a Saturday, and ends with their departure on the following Saturday. The guests include a honeymooning British diplomat and his 18-year-old bride, an older British diplomat and his perceptive wife, a large party of woman archaeologists from the United States, an even larger party of political operatives involved in a local parliamentary election, a mysterious single gentleman, and an even more mysterious single lady who has no visible means of support. Godden’s insight into human nature and dazzlingly sensuous evocation of India are tethered to a compelling story involving politics, corruption, a suspicious death, and blackmail. I guess the “sentimental” part is that all ends happily (except for the dead person, presumably) and exactly as you’d wish it to end, with kindness and good sense triumphant over racism and snobbery. The Kirkus review also complained of “stock characters,” but really–an avatar of the god Krishna walking this earth is a stock character? In whose books? By the author of Black Narcissus, The Greengage Summer, The Battle of the Via Fiorita, and In This House of Brede.
Having visited India several times, I am always interested in books about people from that area. This one was especially entertaining, and the characters were real and vivid.. The crowd scenes, and the almost worship of the political candidate was Believeable. I would wish that in real life politicians in India were as honest and audible as this one. Great story and great characters.
Boring .Took me forever to read it .Sid not like it at all
Thought provoking, well written, fascinating characters
Great fun.
Too hard to follow and didn’t care for subject.
Probably significant that 2 weeks past finishing it, I must think hard about the plot and characters. Pleasant enough, just not lasting.
Loved the peek into colonial Indian life b