Having read this author before and loving her books, I was really looking forward to The Splendor of Silence by Indu Sundaresan. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as pleased with this book as I had hoped. There’s a lot going on, it’s partly a historical history, partly a love story, an partly a mystery. And I think that is the reason I was left slightly unsatisfied, simply too much going on and a feeling that some of the story was slipping through the cracks.

Starting in the 1960’s a young woman, grieving over the death of her father, Sam, receives a trunk from India and learns about her unknown mother from the unidentified letters enclosed within. We are then drawn back to 1942 and the events surrounding her parents who meet and fall in love over the course of four days in the small principality of Rudrakot, in the northwest of India. If the focus had remained on these two people, I think the story would have benefited but other minor characters were also given detailed storylines.

This story touches on many events that were happening at that time, from the world war, to India stirring with a desire to throw off the British yoke for independence. A fascinating time and place, I wanted to be swept away with an touching storyline about this rapidly changing society but instead I felt the narrative was broken into too many pieces and it lost much of it’s appeal. Still I would definitely try another of her books as I love her exotic settings and her insights into the mysterious country of India. ( )

The year is 1942. A great plot and a very sensible and well-researched take on the presence of the British in India. Also, a rather skillful way of presenting the events, not revealing things all once and keeping the reader's interest. Every chapter starts with an excerpt from a book about the presence of the British in India (I have never thought there was that MUCH written about it... it's a whole reading list right there!...), though one of the protagonists is an American captain. I was impressed by such mature writing from a relatively young author, even though it's her 3rd novel chronologically and not part of the the trilogy with which she started her historical fiction writing; I've read her first novel, and remember being impressed by her writing even then - very beautiful, expressive prose. This novel aims at the romantic in a reader. A love story, a mystery, a history lesson.
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I really loved this book. It brought India to life for me. I found it so well written. ( )

Amazing book. The characters are compelling, and the story is sad but beautiful. ( )

In Short: A slow paced story that failed to grab my interest. So after reading about 1/2 the book I decided to put it aside and search for a more compelling read.

For a full review:
http://tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com/2008/03/splendor-of-silence-by-indu-sundare... ( )