3.5 Stars
This historical novel opens in Bombay in the later 1930s.
Mira Novak, a renowned painter, is admitted to a hospital in Bombay. Sona Falstaff is her nurse for six days. Though very different in personality and life experience, the two share a half-Indian identity and become fast friends. When Mira dies suddenly, Sona’s professional competence is called into question. Sona ends up leaving Bombay and sets out on a mission to find three of Mira’s friends in Europe to deliver a painting to each of them. As she travels, Sona learns more about Mira and about herself as well.
The relationship between Mira and Sona is the entire premise of the latter’s quest in Europe. The problem is that the relationship is insufficiently developed to be convincing. They know each other for only six days, and Mira is only one of Sona’s patients, yet the two develop such an intense relationship? The likelihood of being left valuable paintings to distribute after only such a short acquaintance is minimal. Other events in Sona’s life make her decision to leave Bombay easier, but I was unconvinced that someone always worried about financial instability would take all her savings and embark on this journey across Europe.
The character of Sona is problematic. She is 23 years old and has been a nurse for a few years. Surely that career would have opened her eyes to life’s realities. Furthermore, her life has not been without its struggles, yet she is so naive as to be unbelievable. She has met untrustworthy people, yet accepts Mira at face value. Sona sees the flaws in other patients, yet is enthralled by this one? She falls under Mira’s thrall so easily and comes to virtually worship her; in fact, she seems to mourn Mira’s passing much more than that of a beloved family member. For someone whose entire life has been totally bound by conventionality, Sona accepts Mira’s flaunting of conventions so easily? Sona is timid and passive and lacks self-confidence, yet she undertakes a European tour without any great trepidation? In a short time, she takes the initiative in a sexual encounter? There are three criteria for a convincing character change and I don’t find that all three criteria are met.
It’s not only the shallowness of the bond between the two women that is an issue. Mira is not an appealing character. The encounters between Mira and Sona and Mira’s interactions with others show a woman who is self-centred and uses people to satisfy her needs and desires. Because Sona clearly sees Rebecca’s manipulations, her blindness to Mira’s stretches credibility.
The reader must also suspend disbelief in Sona’s tour of Europe. She very easily finds the three people she seeks in three cities with which she has no familiarity. Of course, someone always comes to her assistance. This second half of the book often reads like a travelogue in which the overlong descriptions of the cities slow the pace substantially.
An element I did appreciate is the references to political upheaval in both India and Europe. Because it’s 1937, there are mentions made to Gandhi, the protests against British rule, and the growing independence movement in India. In Europe, Hitler and Mussolini, the fears of Jewish people, and the rumblings of war are mentioned more than once.
I read the author’s Jaipur Trilogy and enjoyed all three books. The quality of this one is more uneven. The shallow relationship between Sona and Mira is not a sufficient catalyst for Sona’s Grand Tour, and Sona’s growth seems at times too slow and at other times too quick.
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