It's always nice to cross a book off my reading list, and while I've been working on Julia Gregson's East of the Sun for longer than I care to admit, the pleasure in reading it was never diminished when I had to temporarily set it aside. It's an intimate sort of story that covers a fairly short amount of time but a great amount of distance beginning in England in 1928 and ending in India. The story follows three young women over the course of a year or so, each traveling to one of farthest reaches of the British Empire for different reasons. This one definitely falls into the comfort read category and would make a great beach or vacation read.
The concept of "The Fishing Fleet" is an interesting one, for in this novel the fishing fleet refers to the women who traveled to India in search of husbands. Rose Wetherby is only eighteen when she accepts the proposal of a handsome and dashing military man whose regiment is stationed in India. It's barely even a whirlwind romance before she finds herself engaged and set to travel East for her wedding. She's accompanied by her best friend Victoria, or Tor, as she is known to her friends. While Rose is the personification of her name, Tor is beset by weight problems and has no luck in love. Rose's future seems assured, but for Tor India is her last hope to make a good marriage. Viva Halloway is hired to act as chaperon though she is not much older than her charges.
Viva was born in India where she lived until the deaths of her parents and sister. She had been sent back to England to live with relatives and has had to make her own way in the world. Far more independent and self-sufficient than the other two young women her reasons for returning to India aren't centered around finding a husband, on the contrary she's somewhat prickly about any overtures by eligible men. Her dream is to write, but more importantly to go back to the last place her family lived where a trunk awaits her. She hasn't a clue what's inside the trunk, but her memories of her family are sketchy and shrouded in mystery. She was so young when she left she's unsure which recollections are real and which are imagined.
For Rose and Tor the voyage out to India is a pleasure--a bit of a last hurrah, but for Viva it is work. Along with Rose and Tor, she agrees to look after a 16-year old schoolboy who's been expelled and is being sent back to parents he barely remembers. Guy Glover turns out to be quite a handful. It's not just spoiled schoolboy antics that he engages in. The trouble he stirs up will have repercussions later and his irresponsible and erratic behavior means Viva is denied the money she was promised to be paid as blame for his actions falls squarely on her shoulders.
The first third of the novel describes the leisurely voyage to India, but the better part of the book covers the experiences of the three women after they each go their separate ways yet remain friends despite the different paths they follow. Each finds life not only more difficult than they imagined it, but discover truths within themselves and ultimately some form of contentment. Although the story is told from the British perspective, events are played out against the exotic Indian backdrop with a nod to the social changes beginning to take place--the unease between two distinctly different cultures, cultures which often clash and chafe against each other.
Quite a lot happens over the course of the year and the narrative moves smoothly between characters. It's a longish book, and while I enjoyed the manner of storytelling, I did wonder if a little judicious editing might have tightened things up a little. I think I understand why Guy Glover was included in the story as it gave Gregson an opportunity to focus on the social changes taking place at the time, but it seemed he was more of a distraction than anything else. I'm not sure how much he added to an already ambitious plot. I think the author could easily have achieved her ends and maybe explored the other relationships even more without that particular storyline. Of course that's just personal preference. I tend to like sprawling stories, but I would have preferred to stick with the stories of the three women. The 1920s is such a fascinating decade and I've long been curious about what life must have been like for the people (British and Indian) living in this situation.
All in all an enjoyable read, even if not a perfect one. I've already got Gregson's other novel, Band of Angels (The Water Horse in the UK) on hand, which is set during the Crimean War. It looks as though she has a new book, Jasmine Nights, due to be published in the fall. Check out her website here.