#BlogTour: Beneath An Indian Sky by Renita D’Silva @bookouture @RenitaDSilva #5Stars #MustRead #FavNewAuthor

I’m excited to be on the blog tour for this fabulous book.  It’s always exciting when you discover a new author and I can’t wait to read more from Renita D’silva.

Beneath An Indian Sky is available to buy in paperback and ebook here.

Book Description:

An unforgettable and heart-wrenching story of love, betrayal and family secrets. In colonial India a young woman finds herself faced with an impossible choice, the consequences of which will echo through the generations…

1928. In British-ruled India, headstrong Sita longs to choose her own path, but her only destiny is a good marriage. After a chance meeting with a Crown Prince leads to a match, her family’s status seems secured and she moves into the palace, where peacocks fill the gardens and tapestries adorn the walls. But royal life is far from simple, and her failure to provide an heir makes her position fragile. Soon Sita is on the brink of losing everything, and the only way to save herself could mean betraying her oldest friend…

2000. When Priya’s marriage ends in heartbreak, she flees home to India and the palace where her grandmother, Sita, once reigned as Queen. But as grandmother and granddaughter grow closer, Priya has questions. Why is Sita so reluctant to accept that her royal status ended with Independence? And who is the mysterious woman who waits patiently at the palace gates day after day? Soon Priya uncovers a secret Sita has kept for years – and which will change the shape of her life forever…

A breathtaking journey through India from British rule to Independence and beyond; a world of green hills, cardamom-scented air, and gold thread glinting in the sun, brought to life by Renita D’Silva’s exquisite writing. If you love Kathryn Hughes, Dinah Jefferies or Kristin Hannah, this is the novel for you.

My Review:

It’s always great to find a new historical fiction writer and Renita D’silva is definitely an author I’ll be reading more of in the future as I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

From the first pages I felt immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of India.  I could really picture the setting in my mind and felt like I was right there next to Mary and Sita watching everything unfold . I particularly liked the vivid descriptions of Mary’s garden in India with its wonderful wildness and amazing animals running free.  I’d love to have had such a garden as a kid and I enjoyed reading about the kid’s exploits there, imagining the fun I’d have had.

Mary and Sita where my two favourite characters and I enjoyed reading about their friendship, despite their differences.  Sita is a very strong willed, rebellious character who wants more to life than the marriage and kids her parent’s have planned for her.  Mary in contrast is a very gentle, tidy little girl who is loved by everyone and just wants to fit in.  She is embarrassed my her free spirited parents and think she doesn’t live up to their expectations.  These differences actually bring the two girls together, helping them try new things that neither would have dared try before and helping them to see the opposite view to the one they have. There were times when both characters did annoy me though as they seemed so selfish and set in their ways.  Despite this I was very sad when, after a tragedy, the two are forced to separate as I’d have loved to have more about their friendship as young girls.

The story is told from three points if view Sita’s, Mary’s and Priya in the present day.  I did initially orefer Sita and Mary’s story as it wasn’t immediately obvious where and how Priya fitted in.  However I soon liked all three stories equally, especially when Priya visits India.

The gradual unraveling of what happened was brilliantly done and took me by surprise as I didn’t see some of them coming.  Even without these though I loved the book for how involved in the story and the girls lives it made me feel and I truly felt a bit sad when it ended and I wasn’t able to read more about their world.

This is the first book by Renita D’silva I have read but it won’t be my last as I thought this book was absolutely superb!  If you like dual time, historical fiction with a bit of mystery you will love this book.

Huge thanks to Kim Nash and bookouture for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Renita D’Silva loves stories, both reading and creating them. Her short stories have been published in ‘The View from Here’, ‘Bartleby Snopes’, ‘this zine’, ‘Platinum Page’, ‘Paragraph Planet’ among others and have been nominated for the ‘Pushcart’ prize and the ‘Best of the Net’ anthology. She is the author of ‘Monsoon Memories’,’The Forgotten Daughter’, ‘The Stolen Girl’, ‘A Sister’s Promise’, ‘A Mother’s Secret’, ‘A Daughter’s Courage’, ‘Beneath An Indian Sky’.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/RenitaDSilvaBooks

Twitter: @RenitaDSilva

Website: http://renitadsilva.com/

Email: Renitadsilvabooks@gmail.com