This may be the first book of the year to earn the title of Epic Read. To me, an Epic Read is a book where I could easily imagine a full series out of the storylines. That doesn't mean that I think the story would have been better in a multiple book format, it simply means that this book was jam packed with storyline and kept me intrigued for days.
Publisher: Touchstone
Pages: 608
My Recommended Age Group: Any Age
Released: June 2, 2009 (First published 2008)
From Julia Gregson's website:
My thoughts:
East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson, had a main storyline and multiple branching storylines that really keep the reader involved. This is part of what made the book so wonderful to me. We begin with the story of Viva, an orphaned woman who carries a great deal of pain with her. She is quite, unwilling to share herself with others and broken by passed tragedy. In East of the Sun, we follow Viva as she makes a life altering decision to act as a Chaperone to a group of young adults travelling to India. She hopes to make a new life for herself in this exotic land, but what she finds there may be much more than she is prepared to handle. Will she be able to protect and guide the girls she is chaperoning on their journey to this exciting country? What about the mysterious young man she is also in charge of? When the world around him starts to turn upside down, will she be able to help him find the surface again or will she be sucked under with him? Viva's love life leaves something to be desired, but her dark past keeps her from allowing herself any form of happiness. Will she be able to overcome her own emotional issues or is she destined to find herself alone?
As we follow Viva along her journey of self discovery, we also get to visit with Rose and Tor, the two young women she has been hired to chaperone on their voyage to India. Rose, a blonde haired beauty is off on her way to be married to Jack, a Captain and a fine catch according to her family. In the time when many unions are formed out of convenience or to increase status, Rose knows that marrying Jack is the best thing for her and yet, she can't help but feel anxious to be marrying a man that she hasn't set eyes on for months. A short engagement and even shorter courtship weigh down on her as she travels the great waters to India to meet her new life. Does this young girl hold enough space in her heart to love her fiancé and her beloved family? Will her future even recognize her as she steps off the boat? A tale of happiness, heartbreak, intrigue and pain follow Rose as she learns that fairy tale happiness might not really exist.
Victoria, or Tor for short, is Rose's best friend. She's accompanying Rose to play chief bridesmaid at the impending wedding. Her own love life, much like Viva's is severely lacking, but not for lack of trying. Tor, and Tor's mother, both wish nothing more than to see Tor settled down with a loving and supportive husband. Only problem is, Tor is a larger girl with horrible self esteem, a fact that she is constantly reminded of by her mother. When a possible engagement falls through due to Tor's habit of trying too hard, her mother finally loses it and tells her off. Tor finds tremendous delight in accompanying Rose to India, partially because it means she can avoid the sad stares she gets back home and partially because she can finally find some freedom from her overbearing mother. Tor's story is one of love found and love lost. Can she develop into the beautiful woman that her best friend Rose is? Will she be able to come to terms with her own body image and find someone that truly loves her just as she is? Tor is our comedic interlude and does a fantastic job of adding to the emotion of the story. Her story is my favorite and one that really helps to make the book.
Gregson does an amazing job of creating a complex world with the various stories and yet always finds a way to pull everything together into one cohesive element. Each character complements the story and adds a layer of mystery and suspense to an already juicy plot. One thing that I absolutely loved about the book was that we didn't really have to think too hard about what time we were in throughout the chapters. Many chapters had the location and year under the chapter number. As much as we jump around India and characters, these locations and years really helped to keep our perspective in check. In addition, this book covers a long period of time and the dates help us to view how our characters have changed and grown over time. I won't go into too much detail about the time and where the story takes us as I don't want to give anything away, but be prepared for a lot of character development to happen. In one way, that is a large purpose of the book; we get to see how our trio of friends develop over time in relation to themselves and each other.
One thing that did catch me up a couple times throughout the book was the action. Gregson did an amazing job of creating suspense, tense scenes that pulled us along until finally breaking free into some glorious action. On more than one occasion, however, Gregson would set the tension, slowing building anticipation, pulling our emotions like a rubber band stretching just to the point of breaking...and then she'd suddenly drop the rubber band, leaving us without the release of the pop as we watch it gently flutter to the ground. There was more than one scene where I felt that the unwinding of the scene was fairly anticlimactic. Perhaps that was the point, I'm unsure. The story was still magnificent (and it's easy to use that word in relation to this book), but I think it might have been even better if we'd received full resolution to the tension she built throughout the stories.
Writing: 9
Interest: 10
Passion: 9
Originality: 10
Characters: 10
Pace: 9
Overall: 57/60 - A
Book Cover: 3/3
The final score that I ended up with for East of the Sun was a solid A. I pulled back a little on Writing, Passion and Pace because these were the areas I felt lacked a bit in the book. The writing was wonderful, beautifully elegant, but at times it seemed choppy. Gregson does an amazing job with accuracy of the historical details and language, so perhaps it was just the language difference I was unaccustomed to. Whatever it was, it didn't ruin the book, but it definitely made it necessary to reread a few sections. Passion and Pace received slightly lower scores because those were the areas I felt were responsible for the anticlimactic release in the tense areas of the book. I had built up so much anticipation to see what would happen and then either it happened in less than a sentence with no follow up or nothing happened and it wasn't discussed again. These kind of threw me off and I found that I had a hard time concentrating as we just continued into another story. Interest, Originality and Characters all received top marks because these really made the book. The character development especially was focused on in great detail and you could tell that Gregson did a lot of work and a lot of research into making this aspect of the book as perfect as possible. Finally I gave full marks to the cover. It is absolutely, positively gorgeous!
I recommend this book to everyone. It was a fantastic read that kept me coming back for more. I often found that I couldn't set the book down because every time I thought I would find a stopping point, allowing me to put it down for the evening; I would get caught up again. It really is an epic adventure and one that will stick around for a while.
Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naïve bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.
Each of them has their own reason for leaving their homeland but the hopes and secrets they carry can do little to prepare them for what lies ahead in India.
From the parties of the wealthy Bombay socialites, to the ragged orphans on Tamarind Street, EAST OF THE SUN is an utterly engaging novel that will captivate readers everywhere.
My thoughts:
East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson, had a main storyline and multiple branching storylines that really keep the reader involved. This is part of what made the book so wonderful to me. We begin with the story of Viva, an orphaned woman who carries a great deal of pain with her. She is quite, unwilling to share herself with others and broken by passed tragedy. In East of the Sun, we follow Viva as she makes a life altering decision to act as a Chaperone to a group of young adults travelling to India. She hopes to make a new life for herself in this exotic land, but what she finds there may be much more than she is prepared to handle. Will she be able to protect and guide the girls she is chaperoning on their journey to this exciting country? What about the mysterious young man she is also in charge of? When the world around him starts to turn upside down, will she be able to help him find the surface again or will she be sucked under with him? Viva's love life leaves something to be desired, but her dark past keeps her from allowing herself any form of happiness. Will she be able to overcome her own emotional issues or is she destined to find herself alone?
As we follow Viva along her journey of self discovery, we also get to visit with Rose and Tor, the two young women she has been hired to chaperone on their voyage to India. Rose, a blonde haired beauty is off on her way to be married to Jack, a Captain and a fine catch according to her family. In the time when many unions are formed out of convenience or to increase status, Rose knows that marrying Jack is the best thing for her and yet, she can't help but feel anxious to be marrying a man that she hasn't set eyes on for months. A short engagement and even shorter courtship weigh down on her as she travels the great waters to India to meet her new life. Does this young girl hold enough space in her heart to love her fiancé and her beloved family? Will her future even recognize her as she steps off the boat? A tale of happiness, heartbreak, intrigue and pain follow Rose as she learns that fairy tale happiness might not really exist.
Victoria, or Tor for short, is Rose's best friend. She's accompanying Rose to play chief bridesmaid at the impending wedding. Her own love life, much like Viva's is severely lacking, but not for lack of trying. Tor, and Tor's mother, both wish nothing more than to see Tor settled down with a loving and supportive husband. Only problem is, Tor is a larger girl with horrible self esteem, a fact that she is constantly reminded of by her mother. When a possible engagement falls through due to Tor's habit of trying too hard, her mother finally loses it and tells her off. Tor finds tremendous delight in accompanying Rose to India, partially because it means she can avoid the sad stares she gets back home and partially because she can finally find some freedom from her overbearing mother. Tor's story is one of love found and love lost. Can she develop into the beautiful woman that her best friend Rose is? Will she be able to come to terms with her own body image and find someone that truly loves her just as she is? Tor is our comedic interlude and does a fantastic job of adding to the emotion of the story. Her story is my favorite and one that really helps to make the book.
Gregson does an amazing job of creating a complex world with the various stories and yet always finds a way to pull everything together into one cohesive element. Each character complements the story and adds a layer of mystery and suspense to an already juicy plot. One thing that I absolutely loved about the book was that we didn't really have to think too hard about what time we were in throughout the chapters. Many chapters had the location and year under the chapter number. As much as we jump around India and characters, these locations and years really helped to keep our perspective in check. In addition, this book covers a long period of time and the dates help us to view how our characters have changed and grown over time. I won't go into too much detail about the time and where the story takes us as I don't want to give anything away, but be prepared for a lot of character development to happen. In one way, that is a large purpose of the book; we get to see how our trio of friends develop over time in relation to themselves and each other.
One thing that did catch me up a couple times throughout the book was the action. Gregson did an amazing job of creating suspense, tense scenes that pulled us along until finally breaking free into some glorious action. On more than one occasion, however, Gregson would set the tension, slowing building anticipation, pulling our emotions like a rubber band stretching just to the point of breaking...and then she'd suddenly drop the rubber band, leaving us without the release of the pop as we watch it gently flutter to the ground. There was more than one scene where I felt that the unwinding of the scene was fairly anticlimactic. Perhaps that was the point, I'm unsure. The story was still magnificent (and it's easy to use that word in relation to this book), but I think it might have been even better if we'd received full resolution to the tension she built throughout the stories.
Writing: 9
Interest: 10
Passion: 9
Originality: 10
Characters: 10
Pace: 9
Overall: 57/60 - A
Book Cover: 3/3
The final score that I ended up with for East of the Sun was a solid A. I pulled back a little on Writing, Passion and Pace because these were the areas I felt lacked a bit in the book. The writing was wonderful, beautifully elegant, but at times it seemed choppy. Gregson does an amazing job with accuracy of the historical details and language, so perhaps it was just the language difference I was unaccustomed to. Whatever it was, it didn't ruin the book, but it definitely made it necessary to reread a few sections. Passion and Pace received slightly lower scores because those were the areas I felt were responsible for the anticlimactic release in the tense areas of the book. I had built up so much anticipation to see what would happen and then either it happened in less than a sentence with no follow up or nothing happened and it wasn't discussed again. These kind of threw me off and I found that I had a hard time concentrating as we just continued into another story. Interest, Originality and Characters all received top marks because these really made the book. The character development especially was focused on in great detail and you could tell that Gregson did a lot of work and a lot of research into making this aspect of the book as perfect as possible. Finally I gave full marks to the cover. It is absolutely, positively gorgeous!
I recommend this book to everyone. It was a fantastic read that kept me coming back for more. I often found that I couldn't set the book down because every time I thought I would find a stopping point, allowing me to put it down for the evening; I would get caught up again. It really is an epic adventure and one that will stick around for a while.
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