The highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed novel The Widows of Malabar Hill.India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The … tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen and her daughter-in-law.
The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?
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In Sujata Massey’s hands, early 20th century India is a fascinating locale. Her Perveen Mistry is a character to savor. And to root for. I’m eagerly awaiting her next adventure.
I am really enjoying this series with Perveen Mistry, the first female lawyer in Bombay. The history is intriguing and I like how Perveen is able to interact with clients that her father and other male lawyers are not. In this book, Perveen travels to Satapur as a representative of the British government to investigate a disagreement over the education of an underage heir to a princely state. When she arrives she finds that there are many things to sort out between the mother and grandmother of the heir and also to find out how the previous heir died. Things do not make sense to Perveen and she finds herself in danger and far from home and from help. This is a very interesting series and I am anxious to learn more about India during this time and to see what will happen next with Perveen.
Massey writes so well about 1920s India and her prodigious research shines through. A terrific follow-up to the multi-award-winning THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL. Highly recommended.
Perveen Mistry is indeed a smart and tough heroine in this novel. I love how new world and old world traditions and ideas collide in the raising of the royal children of Satapur. As danger mounts and unseen forces are at play to gain control of the palace, I genuinely worried for the children and Perveen. I had to know how it ended and stayed up late to find out! Highly recommend this book!
This is a historical gem of a book. It took me a few chapters to get into the pacing of the novel, but after that, I was sucked into Perveen’s world.
I really love the idea of her being Bombay’s only female lawyer. She’s realistically drawn, and I enjoyed getting glimpses of her backstory. The amount of historical detail that went into this book is breathtaking, and I loved reliving another place and era. I’m also really grateful that Massey depicted the constraints on women at that time–and also the complicated relations between Britain and India.
I wasn’t able to guess the culprit, but then again, I was just transported into the story and enjoying the telling of it. I’m also happy with the way Massey portrayed the relationship between Perveen and Colin with a subtle hand.
A very solid mystery with a unique protagonist set in a very rich and detailed world.
Engrossing.
I love everything by Sujata Massey! But her new Perveen Mistry series is really something. Set in 1920 India, during the British Raj, Perveen is Bombay’s only female lawyer and kicks ass and calls names. I absolutely adore that time period and the delicious story Sujata puts together,
Having read the first book in this series, I was eager to read the second.
I was not disappointed.
Working with the concept of one of the very few women lawyers in India at the time and the significant number of women living in purdah who cannot speak to a man, Sujata Massey weaves a fascinating story.
The emotional push and pull of casts and nationalities is fascinating.
The author does a splendid job of creating believable people in what is an unfamiliar setting for most of the readers. And it is enthralling.