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    East of the Sun
    East of the Sun
    East of the Sun
    Audiobook19 hours

    East of the Sun

    Written by Julia Gregson

    Narrated by Tania Rodrigues

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind.

    Rose, a beautiful but naïve bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows.

    Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband.

    And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.

    Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateJan 1, 2009
    ISBN9781407433073
    East of the Sun
    Author

    Julia Gregson

    Julia Gregson has worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent in the UK, Australia, and the US. She is the author of East of the Sun, which was a major bestseller in the UK and won the Romantic Novel of the Year Prize and the Le Prince Maurice Prize there, and Monsoon Summer. Her short stories have been published in collections and magazines and read on the radio. She lives in Monmouthshire, Wales.

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    Reviews for East of the Sun

    3.5/5

    276 ratings38 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I love reading about British colonialists, especially in India, so I was prepared to have a wonderful wallow with this book about three young English women who travel to Bombay with what was known as "The Fishing Fleet." Rose is engaged to be married to an officer in teh Indian Army, Tor (short for Victoria) will be Roses bridesmaid & is hoping to find herself a husband, and Viva, who has been hired as their chaperone is hoping to come to terms with the demons of her childhood in India. Overshadowing their happy times is Guy Glover, a disturbed teenage boy who has been expelled from his prep school for thievery and is a sinister presence throughout the book.If the book had concentrated on Rose and Tor, it would have been more successful than I felt it actually was. Viva's character and her endless teeth-knashing abd failure to connect with people is irritating. And Guy Glover's character is totally ovr the top, as is the whole episode at teh end of the book where Viva is abducted by a rich Muslim as revenge for what Guy had done to his brother, is totally preposterous. Skim over these bits and enjoy a good beach read of times long gone.
    • 3/5
      In 1928, Viva is hired as a chaperone to accompany 2 young women, Rose and Tor, to India for Rose's wedding. They are part of the "Fishing Fleet", English women who traveled to India to find a husband. In order to make more money to pay for her passage, Viva also accompanies a troubled young man, Gus. While on the ship, they meet Frank, a doctor. Rose is due to marry Jack, who she has only met a few times. Rose is very naive, but Tor is ready to meet a man and never return to England. Viva is troubled because both her parents and sister died, and she wishes to return to India to find some answers. Some of this book is interesting, but in other parts, it just dragged, and had info that I don't think was needed, and other parts seemed abrupt and without explanation. 587 pages! It should have been about 300 in my opinion!
    • 5/5
      A bit romancy, but an engaging story about the plight of British women in colonial India in the 1920's. They all end up marrying, some happier than others. The relations between the Indians and the British was very interesting as the Indians were beginning to be inspired by Gandhi at this point.
    • 2/5
      This really didn't hit for me. I found the "romance" aspects unbelievable, and really wanted more depth from the story. Not one of my favorites, unfortunately.
    • 3/5
      A solid 3.5 for me. I actually have this in ebook & paperback form, apparently I was so drawn to the story I had to buy it twice. I'm on a bit of a British Colonialism in India jag at the moment (after finally getting to watch The Jewel in The Crown this summer & now highly anticipating Indian Summers soon to air on Masterpiece)so I dove right into this. I was satisfied enough with the story of Viva, the chaperone of Rose, Tor and the odd end of the story Guy (so odd an end, that he's not even mentioned in the book blurb or summary). Viva was in search of a trunk left to her by her deceased parents, Rose is travelling to India to marry Jack whom she's met a handful of times & Tor (Victoria) is on the husband hunt, apparently so called "The Fishing Fleet". Most of their journey to discovery is interesting but the story did feel a bit slow in the middle. I quite enjoyed the parts covering the passage on the ship and the descriptions of India in a particular time and place on the cusp of something major was well done. Still, I would have liked a bit more of the perspective of an Indian character or two. As it stands they were background dressing mostly and not very deeply rendered at all and I think some of them could justifiably have been more to better effect. So, my main issue is that this felt a bit light on the actual Colonialism & it's ripples through society. That aside, I did enjoy the book and am glad that I read it. This was my first read of Julia Gregson but I do have her Jasmine Nights as well so will read her again. I'd recommend this one to historical fiction fans & fans of the time & instance.
    • 3/5
      This book tells the story of three women all travelling to India for their own reasons. One is getting married, one is her bridesmaid and the third is the chaperone of them plus a strange young man.

      I enjoyed this book although surprised that it's described as a romance as although there is some romance in it to me that isn't the main storyline at all. To me it's far more about how India is changing in the 1920's towards self-determination.

      I found Viva's character really annoying at times and it felt like she was the one who needed a chaperone! However that didn't detract from the story and the scenes at the children's home in particular were well written and showed the conflict of the times.

      More about the local people would have been good as when they were written about it was very interesting.

      On the whole a book worth reading.
    • 4/5
      A lovely sense of the times of the Raj in India.This book starts out with great promise, with the crossing from England to India in the Kaiser-i-Hind. As we sailed, we met the four characters who are central to this story.Viva needs to return to India to retrieve an old trunk that belonged to her dead parents. Rose is travelling to marry captain Jack Chandler, a man she hardly knows, and her friend and companion, Tor (Victoria) is to be her bridesmaid. Tor is also hopeful of finding herself a husband so she doesn't have to return back home to her overbearing mother. The party is completed by Guy Glover, an unstable boy of sixteen, who has been expelled from his school in England.Viva is acting as chaperone to her young companions and although she is not much older than they are, her previous experience in India has persuaded the parents of her suitability.This was the late 1920s and the time of the Raj was drawing to a close. We sensed the building of tension in the background of the narrative and towards the end of the novel, fewer and fewer boats were arriving at the port. Possibly not the best time to arrive in India, but the girls were full of enthusiasm and determined to make a go of their new lives. It's always good to learn something from a book, and what this book taught me about was the 'fishing fleet', the name given to well connected young ladies who fail to find a husband in the London season. Many of them then travelled to India in search of marriageable men, where the ratio of men to women was three to one.My one problem with the book was the Guy Glover story-line, which seemed to be added just to give the book a bit of excitement, but for me, this didn't work and was responsible for the four, rather than five stars.
    • 5/5
      This was a book that I enjoyed reading. Not in a cannot put it down type of way but in a I really enjoy it everyone time I pick it up way. The story centers around three young woman on their way to India from England. They all have different reasons for the journey but the trip itself and the people they meet on the voyage help to bind them together. The book is mildly suspenseful with several ways each character could develop, meaning you are always a bit intrigued as to how it will go. The ending was a little untidy for me but overall a very enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      A nice juicy story that makes you want to read it all in one go, preferably sitting on a veranda if possible.

      One small point: the heroine is always just eating a mango for lunch, as if that's just something you do. Maybe it's just me, but I can't eat a mango without needing a shower and a change of clothes afterward.
    • 3/5
      East of the Sun tells the tale of Viva Holloway and the charges she is given to charparone on a vovage from England to Bombay, India, in the 1920s. Viva, who was born in India, but spent her youth in England hopes to rediscover her past - and that of her lost family - in India. Her charges include Rose, journeying to India to marry her fiance, Victoria, who hopes to catch a husband, and Guy, who may struggle with an illness none of them fully understand. Weaving the character's stories together, a picture of India emerges, but still leaves one wondering about its completeness. While descriptive and at times gripping, East of the Sun's chief virtue lies in recreating 1920s India but the character development needed to drive the plot falls flat.
    • 4/5
      An unusual story and I loved it more and more as I read it more and more. A very human story with great character portrayals, I feel like I know them all so well. I will be recommending this book to friends and I will be looking for other books by this author.
    • 2/5
      A story of India during the 1920s when the British ruled but the "home rule" movement was gaining ground. The story is told through the perspectives of three British women all in India for varying reasons. The story was reasonably interesting. However, one part - centered around the characters on a young man - did not really fit with the rest of the book. Still not clear on what, if anything, that added to the story.The book was also rather long. I think the same story could have been told in a more concise manner.
    • 4/5
      Three young women bond on the sea voyage in the 1920s to the Raj where they all seek marriage. Julia Gregson is no Edith Wharton but she has a warm wit and her characters are credible and her protagonists likeable. The alien discomforts of India and the disconnection between the colonists and the indigenous population are conveyed as effectively as the young women's fear: fear of failure and the more acute fear in the face of the violence of political agitation.
    • 4/5
      This was an excellent book in so many ways. The characters were superbly well drawn - they sprang to life right from the first page - and the dialogue was highly convincing (loved the use of 'balloon' as an adjective!).Though I have never been to India, thanks to this book I feel as though I have. Painting a vivid picture of the closing stages of empire, it depicts the upper class colonial twits and the discontented native population equally well.The main problem I had with the book was the plot strand involving Guy - despite arguably supplying the 'action' in the story, he just seemed to me like an unwanted distraction from the adventures of the other characters, and the reasons surrounding his behaviour were always hard to understand. Also, the on-off romance with the doctor was good in parts, but towards the end the plot seemed to writhe around in an attempt to extract every last drop of emotion, however unrealistic, before performing the necessary contortions to ensure a suitable ending. All in all a great start, just lost it a bit at the end. I would definitely read more by this very talented author.
    • 3/5
      This book really took me back into the 1920s and the desperation of women to find a husband to save them from being forced to live with their (generally overbearing) mothers for the rest of their lives. It's also a lovely depiction of life on board a big cruise ship and then in India.
    • 4/5
      Let me start by saying that it has taken me a long time to get around to writing this review because, although it was a May 2009 Early Review book, it didn't arrive in my mailbox until the end of April 2010. At that point, I put a number of other books ahead of it.Overall, I enjoyed East of the Sun, although it was a bit romancey for my taste, and I've read a number of much better books about the British in India ca. the 1920s--one of them being, of course, A Passage to India. The young women here seem to echo Adela Quested in their ignorance of Indian culture and society, their hopes of marrying promising young men whom they barely know, and even their lack of self-knowlege. The characters are fairly well developed and the story generally engaging, if a bit longwinded.If you are truly interested in life in the British Raj, you might be better off reading Forster's novel. Another recommendation is The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru, which still remains perhaps my all-time favorite contemporary novel; it's brilliant. Still, East of the Sun made good escapist reading for the summer.
    • 4/5
      In East of the Sun, Julia Gregson gives us a classic historical romance. Set in the 1920s, Gregson tells the story of three women heading from England to India as part of the “Fishing Fleet,” the name given to the throngs of women looking for husbands in that faraway land. Rose is already engaged and travelling to meet up with her British soldier fiancé, a man she hardly knows. Victoria, knicknamed Tor, will be her bridesmaid but is herself desperate to find a husband despite her mother’s scathing remarks about her attitude and her weight. And then there is Viva who is hired to be their chaperone on the voyage. In the mix is Viva’s other charge on the ship, Guy, a troubled young teenager recently dismissed from his English boarding school and heading home to his parents in India.This being a historical romance, the young women suffer rejection and loss and ultimately find love. Gregson spices up the story with the setting in India and the looming tension of a populace moving toward independence. She captures the peculiar insularity of the British in India, the many ways they recreated England in the most unlikely environment. It is frustrating at times that more of India doesn’t come through in the story, but then in reality her characters wouldn’t have been as involved with the larger Indian framework. In a sense, then, India becomes a minor character enhancing the background of the story rather than a major player in the piece.Overall, East of the Sun is an entertaining novel and one that stands out within the genre of historical romance.
    • 5/5
      This may be the first book of the year to earn the title of Epic Read. To me, an Epic Read is a book where I could easily imagine a full series out of the storylines. That doesn't mean that I think the story would have been better in a multiple book format, it simply means that this book was jam packed with storyline and kept me intrigued for days. East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson, had a main storyline and multiple branching storylines that really keep the reader involved. This is part of what made the book so wonderful to me. We begin with the story of Viva, an orphaned woman who carries a great deal of pain with her. She is quite, unwilling to share herself with others and broken by passed tragedy. In East of the Sun, we follow Viva as she makes a life altering decision to act as a Chaperone to a group of young adults travelling to India. She hopes to make a new life for herself in this exotic land, but what she finds there may be much more than she is prepared to handle. Will she be able to protect and guide the girls she is chaperoning on their journey to this exciting country? What about the mysterious young man she is also in charge of? When the world around him starts to turn upside down, will she be able to help him find the surface again or will she be sucked under with him? Viva's love life leaves something to be desired, but her dark past keeps her from allowing herself any form of happiness. Will she be able to overcome her own emotional issues or is she destined to find herself alone? As we follow Viva along her journey of self discovery, we also get to visit with Rose and Tor, the two young women she has been hired to chaperone on their voyage to India. Rose, a blonde haired beauty is off on her way to be married to Jack, a Captain and a fine catch according to her family. In the time when many unions are formed out of convenience or to increase status, Rose knows that marrying Jack is the best thing for her and yet, she can't help but feel anxious to be marrying a man that she hasn't set eyes on for months. A short engagement and even shorter courtship weigh down on her as she travels the great waters to India to meet her new life. Does this young girl hold enough space in her heart to love her fiancé and her beloved family? Will her future even recognize her as she steps off the boat? A tale of happiness, heartbreak, intrigue and pain follow Rose as she learns that fairy tale happiness might not really exist. Victoria, or Tor for short, is Rose's best friend. She's accompanying Rose to play chief bridesmaid at the impending wedding. Her own love life, much like Viva's is severely lacking, but not for lack of trying. Tor, and Tor's mother, both wish nothing more than to see Tor settled down with a loving and supportive husband. Only problem is, Tor is a larger girl with horrible self esteem, a fact that she is constantly reminded of by her mother. When a possible engagement falls through due to Tor's habit of trying too hard, her mother finally loses it and tells her off. Tor finds tremendous delight in accompanying Rose to India, partially because it means she can avoid the sad stares she gets back home and partially because she can finally find some freedom from her overbearing mother. Tor's story is one of love found and love lost. Can she develop into the beautiful woman that her best friend Rose is? Will she be able to come to terms with her own body image and find someone that truly loves her just as she is? Tor is our comedic interlude and does a fantastic job of adding to the emotion of the story. Her story is my favorite and one that really helps to make the book. Gregson does an amazing job of creating a complex world with the various stories and yet always finds a way to pull everything together into one cohesive element. Each character complements the story and adds a layer of mystery and suspense to an already juicy plot. One thing that I absolutely loved about the book was that we didn't really have to think too hard about what time we were in throughout the chapters. Many chapters had the location and year under the chapter number. As much as we jump around India and characters, these locations and years really helped to keep our perspective in check. In addition, this book covers a long period of time and the dates help us to view how our characters have changed and grown over time. I won't go into too much detail about the time and where the story takes us as I don't want to give anything away, but be prepared for a lot of character development to happen. In one way, that is a large purpose of the book; we get to see how our trio of friends develop over time in relation to themselves and each other. One thing that did catch me up a couple times throughout the book was the action. Gregson did an amazing job of creating suspense, tense scenes that pulled us along until finally breaking free into some glorious action. On more than one occasion, however, Gregson would set the tension, slowing building anticipation, pulling our emotions like a rubber band stretching just to the point of breaking...and then she'd suddenly drop the rubber band, leaving us without the release of the pop as we watch it gently flutter to the ground. There was more than one scene where I felt that the unwinding of the scene was fairly anticlimactic. Perhaps that was the point, I'm unsure. The story was still magnificent (and it's easy to use that word in relation to this book), but I think it might have been even better if we'd received full resolution to the tension she built throughout the stories.I recommend this book to everyone. It was a fantastic read that kept me coming back for more. I often found that I couldn't set the book down because every time I thought I would find a stopping point, allowing me to put it down for the evening; I would get caught up again. It really is an epic adventure and one that will stick around for a while.
    • 3/5
      This was supposed to be an Early Reviewer but only just arrived! The narrative flowed so smoothly that I was very happy to go along and see what awaited these three likable women in India, even root for their success, but I also kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. The end of The Raj is already visible on the horizon, and although Gregson does not ignore the politics at hand she ultimately doesn't let them impinge all that much on what is -- at heart -- a coming-of-age tale, a quest, and a romance. Sinister things float in and float away again. As a confection, it's far better than many of its peers, but I was sorry that it didn't reach for anything more.
    • 3/5
      I actually had to write the publisher since my first purchased copy was missing five chapters. Once that was settled, I enjoyed the story of these women who travel to India from England. They are naive and young and somewhat free-spirited, much like myself at their age. I also enjoyed reading about their various misadventures, although nothing they experienced was new or a surprise.
    • 4/5
      3 women set sail for Bombay, one to be married to a dashing soldier, one to be the bridesmaid, and the third to be a chaperone. Viva, the chaperone, has another charge, a boy who has been dismissed from school and must return to India to live with his parents.She too is on a journey home. The year is 1928 and the political scene in India is changing to one of unrest. East of the Sun explores what happens to these young people as they land in India and make their way in an ancient culture they do not fully understand.
    • 4/5
      East of the Sun By Julia Gregson. In the late 1920's, many English girls searching for husbands (before they are considered spinsters at the ripe old age of 19!) travel to India where the English men outnumber the women and are considered a worthy catch! (these girls are called the Fishing Fleet!) East of the Sun features Rose, beautiful, sweet and about to marry said English man, Tor, her life long friend accompanying her for the wedding, Viva, their chaperone, (not much older than them) searching for clues about her childhood and deceased family and the unlikely shipmate Guy Glover, an extremely troubled teenager that Viva is also chaperoning to see his parents in India. The ship drama is enticing and only the beginning of their journey through their growing friendships, romances and mishaps. Their life over the next year in India is detailed, sordid and colorful. I loved the characters and the way the story completely immerses the reader in that time period. I have always had an affinity for India and English novels so this was a great mix for me. It is a long read (almost 600) but I truly enjoyed every moment.
    • 4/5
      India has long held a fascination for me. Having had the good fortune to visit, it continues to intrigue me and so I often search out Indian-set novels. This particular novel was on my radar because it combines my interest in India with the genre of historical fiction so I was pleased as punch when my bookclub chose to read it. In the waning years of the British Raj, single women left England for India in search of husbands. They were called the "Fishing Fleet," and what they found in India was very different than what they left behind them. Gregson has taken this actual historical occurrence as her jumping off point for this sweeping novel.Viva Holloway is 25 and she has hired herself out as a chaperone to two other younger women and one teenaged boy in order to pay her own way back to India, the country of her birth and where she lost her family. Viva's charges, Rose, Tor and Guy become completely intertwined in her life both during the long days of sailing and once they get to India itself. Rose is going to be married to a British officer whom she has only known for a brief time. Her best friend, Tor, is going to be Rose's bridesmaid but she's also looking forward to slipping the stifling, unrealistic bonds of her mother. Troubled, young Guy is returning to India to be reunited with his parents after being expelled from his boarding school. Viva forges a friendship with her charges Rose and Tor and with Frank, the ship's doctor, when Guy has a violent episode while on the ship.Once they land in India, all of their lives diverge and converge again in surprising ways. And the physical plot is far-reaching and wide-ranging. But the book is as much about the personal landscape as it is about British ex-pats in India and their role in a British Raj coming to a close. Gergson deftly examines the nature of friendship and secrets, expectations and the role of women, memory and the reality of the present. Each of the women has a different reason for traveling to India and responds to their situations in country in very different ways. Their circumstances highlight a wide variety of lives and yet they remain quintessentially British. The faint whiff of decay from the waning years of the Raj is fully evident throughout the novel but doesn't overwhelm the storyline. The main characters are well-rounded and appealing, even when the reader winces at their naivete. Superficially the novel is well-paced and compelling but it works on a deeper thematic level as well. Fans of historical fiction, women's literature, and Indian-set novels will all enjoy this grandiose addition to the shelves.
    • 3/5
      Good, but not great. Liked the descriptions of India but that was not strong. It was strong in the telling of the friendship of women, how what you don't say can be harmful, both to yourself and to relationships, and how desparate women were to find a husband when that was what they were expected to do or be considered a failure. Like it. And would give it to my mother to read.
    • 4/5
      In 1928 three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a naive bride-to-be going to a strange land to be with a man she hardly knows, Victoria, her best friend eager to get away from her overbearing mother and have adventures and romance, and Viva, returning to her land of birth in search of her roots and ultimately herself.Forging a friendship that will help them endure, we follow these three women as they experience life and India, from the British enclaves to the streets of povertry ridden Bombay.A well written, engaging story with characters that are never picture-perfect but flawed, altogether real humans that I found myself caring about. I had my fingers crossed for a happy ending but life usually isn't tidy and East of the Sun, like real life, didn't have a tidy ending with everything done up in a fancy bow. Instead I was left with a satisfactory feeling that things ended as they should have.
    • 5/5
      This is a thoroughly absorbing novel on a par with Passage To India and Jewel In the Crown. Anyone who enjoys reading about India in the Colonial days will love reading about the journey of three English women as they travel to India, find romance and try to adapt to life their. I was supposed to get a free copy of this but it never came. i read it anyway!
    • 4/5
      East of the Sun is an amazing novel that first takes place aboard a ship bound for India and then in Bombay and various other parts of India. In 1928, three young women head to India for different reasons. Rose is engaged to be married to a cavalry officer, Jack, whom she barely knows. Tor, is her best friend and bridesmaid, and is being sent by her mother after failing to secure a husband during the London season, to try her hand during the season in India. "Most come after the London season is over and where, presumably they have fallen at the first fence of that glorified marriage market. India, where men of their class outnumber women by three to one, will be their last chance to find a husband"And then there is Viva, headed to India, where she lived as a child to pick up a trunk that belonged to her now deceased parents. Viva acts as chaperone to Rose and Tor as a way to get her passage paid to India. Viva is also chaperone to Guy, a disturbed sixteen year old boy, kicked out of boarding school and being sent to live with his parents.Rose is homesick for her parents and unhappy in her marriage but keeps this to herself and tries for the best. Tor wants never to go home and to desperately find a husband after a failed romance and to travel and have fun. Viva longs for adventure, independence, to be a writer and to be brave. The stories of these young women are set against the backdrop of British-occupied India, in the time of Gandhi, when the people of India want to rule their own country. Through Tor, living with a wealthy acquaintance of her mother's, we see the rich socialites and through Viva, working at an orphanage, we see the poverty and slums of the cities. When the girls' travel, the author writes vividly descriptive passages of the countryside that made me long for travel.The story has romance, mystery, humor, social commentary, friendship, and self-discovery and is never slow. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this as a must-read.
    • 4/5
      A beautifully written saga... It reminded me of Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet", though not of such monumental and epic proportions as the latter. A very compelling story of three young women whose lives unpredictably change with their arrival to India in 1928 (under British rule but already stirring for independence).
    • 2/5
      I have to admit that I wasn't that crazy about this book. I chose it because I'm interested in books set in other cultures and I like being able to "feel" what the characters are feeling, which didn't happen. The premise of the book is about a young woman traveling from London to India to be married to a service man she barely knows and she's accompanied by her best friend and a chaperone, who's rather young herself. And Viva, the chaperone, is also chaperoning a very troubled teenage boy. I wanted to sympathize with the characters, but, the "feeling" just wasn't there. It's easy reading and it's not hard to follow, but, it just felt so ho-hum. The author "stated" feelings - like, you knew that Rose was traveling to a foreign country without her parents and marrying an almost complete stranger, plus you knew that she knew nothing of marital relations, yet, I didn't feel how scared she must have been. Nor could I really get into Viva's financial concerns, yet I should have felt, "My gosh, what is she going to do for money in this foreign land??" The book is nearly 600 pages and I read 200 pages of it - if I wasn't excited about reading it by 200 pages, then I suspect it wouldn't have gotten much better.
    • 5/5
      Viva Holloway needs to return to India, the country in which she lived as a child. She was sent to the United Kingdom after the deaths of her parents and sister, and now wants to return, partially to pick up the trunk of her parents' belongings that is still stored in Simla, but more so to try to recapture the memories and joy of her early life, which she can feel getting further away all the time. In order to pay for her fair, she takes a job as a chaperone to three young people. Two are women who are part of the "Fishing Fleet" - single English women who are hopeful that the marriage market in India, where well brought up Englishwomen are relatively scarce, will work in their favor. One woman, Rose, has already met her husband to be, a grand total of five times, while the other, Tor, is simply looking for adventure and to get away from an overbearing mother. Viva's third charge is a troubled, unbalanced young man, kicked out of his boarding school and forced to return to his parents in India. The lives of these four people part and converge, each telling their own tale while also coming together to learn about life, friendship, and love.This is one book that I found difficult to put down. Although it is a bit heftier than absolutely necessary, at 600 pages, for the most part it kept moving well, Often when I come across a book that is told from multiple perspectives I find it difficult to stay engrossed with all the different characters - I will want to skip ahead to read about just the most interesting story and feel bored by other viewpoints. Gregson's strength is writing each of her characters' stories so well that they were each compelling in their own way. While each had natural ebbs and flows, they hooked the reader in and make it a treat to come back from more. My only complaint is that I wouldn't have minded if the schoolboy character had been written out entirely. He is more a means to an end in the story, but Gregson's strength is in her writing of the friendship of Viva, Rose, and Tor, as well as their potential mates. The rest is filler, but the core is fantastic.