Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen

I thought I knew something about India, but after reading Alison McQueen's Under the Jeweled Sky, I realize I actually know very little.  Certainly the novel showcases the sultry exoticism of the country. There is a palace filled with unheard of wealth and hidden gardens which almost shimmer with lush beauty.  The servants that fill the palace serve the royal family with it numerous wives in their elegant saris festooned in opulent jewels.  And the British Colonial community and later the diplomatic corps with their endless rounds of parties and social climbing wives make up the expected expat enclave.  Where else might a middle class family have as many servants at their beck and call--it's no wonder so many see it as a dream posting.

But the winter nights in New Delhi can be quite cool and even foggy, too.  The wealth and power of the Maharajas comes to an end with the Partition.  And surely somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that the Partition meant not only the withdrawal of the British as rulers but also the creation of modern day Pakistan.  In some ways it's a rebirth, but it's a bloody one with great exoduses of masses of people who must relocate and lose everything in the process.  The independence of India might bring a feeling of modernity to the people and a new attitude towards life, but the old social mores and prejudices remain staunchly in place.  Behavior that was unforgivable before the Partition remains so after it, and new boundaries and self-rule won't change whether or how two very different cultures, once intertwined so closely, still must be kept at arms length.

Under the Jeweled Sky is not a story simply set against the backdrop of India's Partition, but the characters lives are completely and inextricably caught up in it and defined by it.  A young British woman, the daughter of one of the palace doctors, and an Indian youth, the son of one of the Maharaja's bearers, fall in love.  They optimistically believe that on the dawn of this new age in India that they can be together, that surely in an independent India love trumps all no matter that they come from two very different cultures.  While independence is seemingly obtained overnight, social attitudes, so very long part of the fabric of Indian life, are much harder to change.

I've decided, and just in time for Valentine's Day, that this is a love story for grown-ups.  Sometimes happiness, no matter how many obstacles are cleared and overtaken, is still transitory.  Real happiness can be fleeting and not everyone gets a happily ever after. As a matter of fact, few people actually get the storybook happily ever after, yet some endings are wholly satisfying nonetheless. 

From the first pages of the story, when Sophie Schofield visits her mother after many years apart, it's obvious that the two women are ill-at-ease in each other's company.  There are no open arms for the return of her daughter, Veronica only voices sharp recriminations for the choices her daughter has made.  Her own life has been beset by unhappiness and she's the sort of woman who is only too pleased to have unhappy company.  It also sets the tone that Sophie can walk away from it all, and into a new life, a path chosen by herself and control over her own destiny. 

But first Alison McQueen takes the reader back a decade to an India that is all hope and beauty.  After serving as a doctor in the war, Sophie's father has chosen to make a fresh start by taking a position as royal physician to the Maharaja and his wives, a position he must fill with great tact and diplomacy.  Sophie is mostly left to her own devices.  While her mother believes she is filling her time with good works, Sophie, who is just out of school, begins to explore the palace and its intricate web of passages and walled gardens. 

No outsider is allowed to look upon the wives of the Maharaja, so when Sophie finds herself lost and unexpectedly in the women's presence, it's young Jag Ramakrishnan who saves her from what would be a painfully embarrassing faux pas.  Jag has grown up within the palace walls and is privy to its secrets yet almost invisible to the royal family.  His father has high expectations for Jag's future.  The two youth are of an age and fall instantly into friendship, spending their time together talking and exploring.  When they can't be together they leave each other notes and despite their differences find common ground and pleasure in their time together.  It's never said aloud, but they both know their friendship would not be welcomed by either family.  And inevitably they fall in love.  When their friendship is discovered the repercussions are swift and severe.  But, so too is their promise to find each other again someday. 

Flashing back forward in time to Sophie's present, she and Jag seem to have lost each other.  Separated by their families and circumstance, the Partition has wreaked havoc to the country.  Even so many years later so many people remain displaced, and love found then lost seems to be only a bittersweet memory.  Each has moved on.  Sophie is working for the Foreign Office in London where she meets Lucien, her future husband, and Jag is a world away--one of the displaced.  Lucien's work takes them back to India, but little of what she remembers remains the same.  

Under the Jeweled Sky is not a fluffy romance.  The story has dark corners and sharp edges and is all the more satisfying for that.  There are unexpected twists, much like real life.  And McQueen has created a flesh and blood heroine who is both sympathetic and likable.  The story follows the trajectories of the two lovers from the first blush of love through the painful events that take them into adulthood.  It was entertaining but satisfying, too, in its depth.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks for sending this book my way.  While not her first book, Under the Jeweled Sky is her first book to be published in the US.  I look forward to her next and will be searching for a copy of a copy of The Secret Children to read soon.  You can read more about Alison here.  I plan on making India a reading destination more often!   

Comments

[Kailana]

I am glad you liked this. I have it and hope to get to it soon. In the meantime the author is guest posting at Historical Tapestry in a couple days. :)

[Alison_McQueen]

I am so glad you enjoyed the novel. Thank you for your kind comments.

[Margaret Powling]

I have this on order so, for the time being, I'm not reading your review for now, tempted though I am!

[Caroline]

Does it have anything in common with The Far Pavilions? It's one of those chunksters that have been on my piles for ages.

[Stefanie]

Oh this sounds like a good read! And even a cool and foggy India is much warmer and more pleasant to visit than a cold and snowy Nebraska!

[Danielle]

I'll have to check out her post at Historical Tapestry--I get lots of good reading ideas there! Hope you enjoy this one, too. I'm glad it was more substantial than a regular historical romance!

[Danielle]

I really enjoyed your book, Alison! I hope you are working on another (is it too soon, or am I just being greedy?! :) ). And thanks, too, for sharing about your work and guest posting--I always love hearing about the story behind the story!

[Danielle]

I always try not to give any spoilers away (at least without warning), but I also like not knowing too much about the plot before reading a book. I will have to see what the UK cover looks like--it's always interesting to see how the designs vary!

[Danielle]

Do you know I have never read The Far Pavilions, though I have it on my shelves! I have a feeling that The Far Pavilions is setting during an earlier period, but I think there is the whole British Raj thing going along--royalty and then the Colonial British comunity and some sort of love affair between two people of each culture. I should really pull my copy as now I am in the mood for something set there--it is a massive book, though, isn't it?

[Danielle]

Yes, winter in New Delhi still sounds much more temperate than anything we get here! I don't know why I was surprised that it might be cold there! I liked this--liked that there was a nice, serious thread running through the story and I was able to learn something more about the history and culture. I had never really thought of ever traveling there, but now I am thinking it would be really interesting.