Tiger Hills

I was very lucky to win this book through the Early Reviewers program - lucky to win, luckier to win such a good book. Sarita Mandanna's writing is so self-assured I was really surprised that this is her first novel. The writing is beautifully descriptive - I was hooked from the beginning with a description of monkeys being driven down cliffs so the traders could follow the map of their stained feet to the ships below.

Opening in 1878 in Coorg, India the book follows the lives of Devi and Devanna - inseparable childhood friends until another man enters the picture. I do not want to spoil the plot - suffice it to say that the book evolves into a saga of love, loss and how choices we make can echo through the generations.

I love novels show more that transport me to another time and place, tell me a good story, teach me about another culture. Tiger Hills does this and I would recommend it to anyone who fells the same. show less

This historical novel is an Indian "Gone with the Wind." Set between 1878 and 1936, it is a multi-generational saga about a love triangle.

This love triangle, involving Devi, Devanna and Machu, serves as a catalyst for a long sequence of tragedies. Devi, the female lead who connects all the main characters, makes choices with far-reaching consequences for the men who love her. Devanna is her childhood sweetheart until Devi meets Machu, the tiger killer.

Devi, spoilt, self-centred and stubborn, is not a likeable character. Some empathy is felt for her at the beginning but it wanes as her words and actions hurt those who love her the most. For example, she usurps another woman's child and then favours him while treating her own son with show more indifference. She repeatedly ignores her grandmother's warnings and becomes hard and brittle.

None of the characters are flawless (and that's a positive aspect of the book), but some suffer a great deal more than they deserve; however, the epilogue, where the author reverses a key plot development seemingly to end the novel on a happier note, should have been omitted.

The descriptions of Coorg (Kodagu), known as "the Scotland of India," are wonderful. The reader also learns a great deal about the culture of this region of India.

The suffering that passion can bring, the necessity of forgiveness and the consequences of choices are some of the themes developed in the novel.

This book would make a wonderful Merchant-Ivory production. show less

Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna is a story of India based on a love triangle between the beautiful, spirited Devi, the intelligent, quiet Devanna, and the manly tiger killer, Manchu. The story is set in and around the author’s own birthplace in South West India, the district of Coorg.

Devi and Devanna were close childhood friends, but at the age of 10 Devi met Devanna’s cousin, a young man being hailed as a hero for killing a tiger. Devi declared that this young man would be her future husband and she never wavered from that idea. Devanna on the other hand was desperately in love with Devi and in the heat of betrayal and disappointment he forces the issue and thus condemns all three of them to a bitter and disappointing life.

While the show more bulk of the story line deals with the passions and failures of love, there is a lot more to this book. The district of Coorg is described with it’s jungles, mountains and coffee plantations along with the age-old customs of the clans and relations with European settlers. The book covers six decades and many historical events, but it is the heartbreak and regret of the three tortured people at the heart of the book that sets the tone.

Tiger Hills was an ambitious saga and although at times it seemed to verge into melodrama, this multi-generational story held my attention with it’s vivid cultural details, exotic setting and interesting characters. show less

This grindingly linear tale set in the mountainous Coorg region of India follows Devi and Devanna across more than 60 years from 1878 to 1939. It begins as a star-crossed romance which, at times, is grafted clumsily onto an historical novel. And perhaps inevitably it takes on the trappings of the family saga. There are moments of high tension, sporadic passion, anger and remorse. But they are like fits of pique that dwindle almost immediately so that the overall emotional coherence is lost. It’s all rather unfortunate, since the first chapter or two might lead you to suspect you have found an author with, at the very least, some descriptive abilities. However, when the first suicide is trotted out as a device to move the plot along, show more your heart will start to sink. By the third or fourth such clunky intrusion you will lose all hope. The only thing that may drive you on to the end is the thought that for some obscure reason your book club has selected this as the book for this month. Failing that you will surely set it aside long before reaching the half-way mark. As I rather wish I had. show less

I really enjoyed the first part of the story involving Devi, Devanna, and Machu. The setting in Coorg, India, was also interesting since, to me, it is a foreign country and culture. However, as the story progressed and the characters' lives changed, I just felt sorry for all of them. No one seemed truly happy. But even though there was so much misfortune and misunderstanding between the characters, I was still left feeling hopeful at the end.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in a Goodreads giveaway.

It's hard to write a review when there's nothing wrong with the writing, but you hate the main character. The writing flows nicely, and the author has a talent for describing people's personalities with nice turns of phrase. I just can't completely love a book when I intensely dislike the main character (Devi).

There's not one redeeming characteristic in this woman. Did a terrible thing happen to her? Yes, definitely. Was she spoiled and self-obsessed both before and after the terrible event? Unfortunately, yes. Having a bad thing happen to you doesn't give you the right to treat everyone else like garbage for the rest of your life. If the point of the show more book is "Don't be like this person!", it succeeds brilliantly.

I'll certainly keep an eye out for future books by Sarita Mandanna, hopefully with more likeable characters. show less

This book could really have used to be two books. It was interesting, for the most part, but EXTREMELY dense and rather long (this from a person who enjoyed Gone With the Wind, Les Miserables, and Vanity Fair). By about page 150, I was getting the feeling of a long-winded story that kept continuing with "and then!"

This aside, the author clearly had an excellent ability for imagery and character formation. You may have wanted to slap them, but you knew how they got that way. The overall storyline was also very good.