I've absolutely inhaled this book. What a beautiful story and unique writing.

Magda lives in a large house by the sea, now elderly and unable to fend for herself. Once a brilliant Chemist, she now requires help from carers several times a day for meals and all her personal needs.She has a sharp tongue and is frustrated by her situation. This is the story of three women, Magda, one of her carers Susheela and Magda's mother Evelyn who lived in colonial India where Magda was born and spent her early life. This was a well written book and the theme of Dignity was strong throughout. This was the story of three women who were all so different but had so much in common. I would recommend this thought provoking book.

Firstly, I absolutely loved the cover design on the proof / hardback copies. This is a superb read about three women, race, British India and current day Britain which I will very happily recommend to all. Clearly another author that I am going to have to check out previous / future book by. I just didn't want to put this book down, a perfect way to have spent Sunday in lockdown.

Wow. What can I say? This book left me with such a severe book hangover-here are 3 women, looking for a place which they can call home, but where do they belong? Is belonging something that happens when it's a state of contentment with who you are or does it depend on a geographical place? Their individual and group journeys are so beautifully wrought it was an anguish to walk away from them-dignity is a thing they strive to maintain but for some reason,each finds it impossible. Magda's only recourse to maintaining hers is the control she has over carers, finding fault with each of them until they quit. The only one she relates to is Susheela because she reminds her of her childhood in India. Susheela is frustrated by the role she plays as a carer, she is compromised by time and feels dignity for her clients is being by it. Evelyn is the one who links them both-it is her voice that related to me the most. She is a woman living at the time of colonial rule in India, shipped off to marry a husband whether she likes it or not, and has to maintain a dignified silence about it. She has a strict code to live by and despite having servants they are little better than spies who monitor her every move and how she is supposed to behave. Her narrative broke me a lot,the expectations on a young woman with no life experience being sent so far away was horrific and harks back to an inglorious part of Britain's past was just heartbreaking and awful. The 3 narratives are so distinct, yet woven together through pure poetry and divine plotting to make a remarkable and unforgettable whole. Who we belong to, and who belongs to us, in the sense of the Welsh word hiraeth is so much more than blood or marriage, it relates to the self actualised concept of dignity and love

Magda with her old English pride lives in her house by herself, thinking of her childhood in India. Susheela, young Indian girl, works as carer for the elderly and misses her mum who died recently. She is juggling her studies with work, in love with an ex-soldier who is recovering from the after effects of war. Evelyn, once a happy school teacher is married to a controlling husband living in India, trying to get used to being a member of the respectable and stifling Raj’s ruling society. Beautifully interwoven stories and lives of these three women from different time periods explore the place you belong to, the where that’s who you are. Exquisitely told, heartbreaking story full of hope which grips you totally. It is on3 of these books that you don’t want to finish at all.