West of the Moon

East of the Sun - Julia Gregson

       In 1928 England, Viva, a single women of her mid 20s, plans to return to India and collect the old trunk her deceased mother left in India.  She accepts the position of chaperon for two different groups also on their way to Bombay, India.  The first group is comprised of Rose, the beautiful, young soon-to-be bride of an officer she's only met a handful of time, and  Victoria "Tor", Rose's the overweight best friend and maid of honor who desires finding her own husband in Raj India.  Viva's other charge is the 16 year old Guy Glover, an enigmatic young man dressed in a heavy coat on his way back to his family in India.  Thus begins the tangled story of Viva, Rose, Tor, and Guy.   

       East of the Sun is a period novel set first on the character's ship to India and then in India itself.  The novel does a good job setting the period with language, including little brief cultural references (Gandhi, Jelly Roll Morton) and archaic phrases.  While the story seems to be centered around Viva, both Rose and Tor get a large amount of space in the story. 

       However, something just didn't click with me and this book.  There were times that I enjoyed it and then times where it just seemed to drag a bit much for my taste.  This is also the longest book I've read this year (my copy comes in at just under 600 pages) and while that may be part of it, I don't think it is.  It's a good story, but the characters seem a bit flat.  There are changes in the characters, but they just feel a little bit forced.  It was a good book, but not as fantastic as I had hoped it would be.  And with what we as readers of period fiction know is about to happen in the next 20 years, it would be interesting to see a companion novel on what happens with these characters and their children.  I do have to say, though, I love the cover art.

Rating: 3 of 5.