I've read a number of reviews that have said they found the time period this book was set in to be unrealistic and that tarnished their enjoyment.

However, I didn't see it this way. The timeframe the novel is set in IS more modern but the setting is very insular - almost of a village whose residents are behind the times. I don't think the "surely social services would have got involved" nature of this is entirely unreasonable but also - in an insular community with a very powerful man who blackmails a huge number of people? Not too far fetched for me, I'm sorry to say.

I found this novel compelling- the gradual ebb and flow of Sandra/Cassandra as her trauma and instincts both encouraged and repressed her, the development and deterioration of her relationships and the perception of her from outsiders created a truly haunting depiction.

The writer here has created the perfect storm of a victim. We want to protect her, shake sense into her, shout at her, change her but she is irreparably shaped by her own superstitions and the defence mechanisms she creates wherein she blames herself for everything that happens to her.

I wasn't keen on the ending to the novel, I have to say and there is the depiction of a character within it who is black- this character is of low income and works as a cleaner in the big house. This character speaks with a very broad accent - the only one really demonstrated at length in the whole novel -and I feel like the inclusion of a singular woman of colour in the novel in this role is an odd choice. She becomes such a vital character but the introduction of her skin colour and social status with no other origin info and without similar details included on other characters felt a little like racial stereotyping to me. I would love to talk to the author to find out their thoughts around this :)

I was gifted a copy from Kaleidoscopic book tours for this honest review.

This book was completely unexpected for me - it is a slow build of tension and an exploration of family conflict, focusing on the people we become when we dedicate our lives to others and how we'll you can ever really know a person.

The novel had me enraptured from start to finish - I couldn't put it down. I loved the third person narrative but the fact that each chapter the narrative perspective shifted so the reader was permitted different insights into all of the main characters and their viewpoints meant that nobody's true nature went uncovered.

This clever writing resulted in each character being morally grey and truly both likeable and not so - just as people are.

Any theatre/drama/literature buff will love the references in here to the stage and in-jokes and parallels between both dramaacripts and real-life situations.

A delicate, slow paced but poignant saga.

I reviewed this book in exchange of a digital copy from Randomthingstours.

I went into reading this book with the new introduction and was pretty sure I wouldn't find anything surprising since feminism has come so far. I was completely wrong

I was shocked by the regression in feminism that happened post-WW2 and also in the way stories and news articles were rejected and reworked.

I was also taken aback that even university curriculum textbooks discouraged progressive thinking for women.

Although you might not feel radicalised by this book as things HAVE come a long way since it was written, it serves as a fascinating account of a period of time and is eloquent and insightful.

The new introduction helps to really put this into perspective for a modern reader.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

Heartbreaking and Heartwarming in tandem.

I've taken some time to process my feelings on this beautiful book by Paige Toon - I have to admit I think this is actually the first book I have ever read of hers. Any fans - where should I go next??

I was honoured to be allocated a slot on the Book Tour for this book and actually read it all in one emotional rollercoaster of a sitting.

The story takes the reader both back in time to the protagonist, Leah's childhood and through the present, with an intricate narrative that leaves you aching for plot points to come together.

The pace of the novel is tantalising in all honesty - Toon does an incredible job of making the characters' conversations and reflections in the present reveal things about the past. The reader comes across a few surprises along the way - even Mrs cynical over here was taken aback.

I'm not a crier over books - very occasionally when a book hits home my eyes will fill with tears and that's as emotional as I get. At the end of this book my (already poor) vision was completely obscured by an eyeful of tears so it is safe to say this novel hits home.

I will remember it and the characters from it fondly for a long time.

Thanks so much to the publishers and Randombooktours for my copy in return for these thoughts.

Absolutely outstanding.

This is the second book in The Jaipur Trilogy and I thought it was only fair to review it after I read The Henna Artist which had been on my TBR for a long time. Let me tell you I have no idea how anyone managed to wait after reading the first book until now - the second I turned the final page in the compelling and stunning novel I had to start the second one.

In this novel we rejoin some of our original characters just over a decade later. The reader is reintroduced to many familiar faces including Malik as a young man, rejoins Lakshmi and we also meet Nimmi - one of our narrators for this story. The narrative perspective switches between characters in this novel - a complete switch from the original but an absolutely compelling addition.

As a reader, it is enchanting to see Lakshmi from different perspectives and incredibly endearing to see the man Malik has become. Without giving too much of the plot away, Joshi begins this novel much like the first one - with a compelling conflict that becomes vital to the later story.

I was nervous about reading this second novel because I loved the first one so much but it DEFINITELY did not disappoint. The writing was just as delicate, the setting just as vibrant and the politics and misdeeds of the families of Jaipur just as richly described.

Please, I implore you, pick up this book. If you haven't already - pick up the first one too.

Thanks to RandomThingsTours and Alka Joshi for a copy in exchange for this review.