Julia Gregson
Forfatter af East of the Sun
Om forfatteren
Image credit: Julia Gregson
Værker af Julia Gregson
Associated Works
Satte nøgleord på
Almen Viden
- Andre navne
- Gregson, Julia
- Fødselsdato
- 1947
- Køn
- female
- Nationalitet
- UK
- Bopæl
- Newport, Wales, UK
Monmouthshire, Wales, UK - Erhverv
- model
journalist
novelist - Kort biografi
- Julia Gregson worked as a model for Hardie Amies before becoming a journalist. As foreign correspondent in the United Kindom, Australia, and the United States of America, she was posted to Vietnam and India, and then worked for Rolling Stone in New York, She has interviewed Muhammad Ali, Buzz Aldrin, Ronnie Biggs and Hollywood royalty. Her short-stories have been published in collections and magazines and read on the radio. Married with one daughter and four step-children, she lives in Monmouthshire, Wales with two Welsh cobs, a Shetland and two dogs.
Medlemmer
Anmeldelser
If someone would ask me about a book that really surprised me would this one be one my mind. Monsoon Summer was a book that I eagerly hoped to get a chance to read (thanks to the lovely cover and the intriguing blurb), but it was a book that when I started to read it struggled very hard with at first. I even thought about giving up on it. Why? I had some real problem with the main character Kit. I found her very immature for a woman of 28, and she often made me annoyed with her "dark" secret and trouble of adjusting to a life in India. I saw her as a woman who just didn't understand the culture in India and who made a rash decision to marry an Indian man who she hardly knew. I honestly didn't see how this marriage would work since it seemed that they didn't discuss important things before they got married like if or when they should have children. Work was especially a sensitive question since being a midwife is not a good thing in India. And, starting a new life in India trying to hide that from Anto's family felt like a very bad idea.
However, I was enthralled with the life in India after the Independence, how midwives were treated, and the culture difference between the Indians and the English. And, as the story progressed did I start to find more and more sympathy for Kit, and I even started to care and worry about her. One can say that she grew and matured through the book, and I came to more and more understand her. I also found myself liking her mother-in-law more and more, and yes even Kit's mother whose past had made her a very hard and untrusting woman.
This is a book that I'm glad that I stuck to. That I did not give up on it, despite my early doubts. Monsoon Summer turned out to be a great book. I felt that the book gave me an insight into India after Independence, the struggle for women, like those that worked as a midwife, but also the struggle for those that got a high education and having to combine work with old traditions. I found the book to be quite good and interesting and I felt richer after reading it.
I want to thank Touchstone for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! … (mere)
However, I was enthralled with the life in India after the Independence, how midwives were treated, and the culture difference between the Indians and the English. And, as the story progressed did I start to find more and more sympathy for Kit, and I even started to care and worry about her. One can say that she grew and matured through the book, and I came to more and more understand her. I also found myself liking her mother-in-law more and more, and yes even Kit's mother whose past had made her a very hard and untrusting woman.
This is a book that I'm glad that I stuck to. That I did not give up on it, despite my early doubts. Monsoon Summer turned out to be a great book. I felt that the book gave me an insight into India after Independence, the struggle for women, like those that worked as a midwife, but also the struggle for those that got a high education and having to combine work with old traditions. I found the book to be quite good and interesting and I felt richer after reading it.
I want to thank Touchstone for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! … (mere)
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!… (mere)
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!… (mere)
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.
Lister
Hæderspriser
Måske også interessante?
Associated Authors
Statistikker
- Værker
- 5
- Also by
- 1
- Medlemmer
- 1,424
- Popularitet
- #18,067
- Vurdering
- 3.6
- Anmeldelser
- 99
- ISBN
- 88
- Sprog
- 12
- Udvalgt
- 3
There's a lot to be said here for absentee parenting. Rose's mom had the most involvement (but that's not saying much) and Guy's parents were just...it should be criminal. Then again Viva really was too eager and didn't ask the right questions at her interviews at all. In that she showed her naivety and I think in some ways that's why she was chosen to 'chaperon' Guy to India. She didn't ask so they had deniability after all if anything went wrong.
For anyone not overly familiar with British occupied India of the late 1920's you will learn quite a bit. What we learn of India is seen through British eyes of course--Viva possibly being the most sympathetic of the three (having lived there during her childhood), but is still fascinating. My experiences with colonial India have been limited to one young adult novel and a bollywood movie called Lagaan, but neither gave me a real feeling of what it was like. Especially not for an officer's wife and family. Rose is perhaps lucky in that she makes the best of things, it doesn't seem like her life will be as thrilling as her mother believed.
Throughout the book I wondered if Guy could have been easily written out, if the novel would have suffered or not. He was rather repugnant and only serves to become worse and worse as the novel goes on. I think he was important however to round out the quartet--because of his actions decisions are made that would have otherwise not been and developments are forced upon Viva in particular that help her get past the ghosts of her past.… (mere)