OLD BOMBAY COMES TO LIFE

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March, Minotaur Books, US$26.99. With little to distract him while recuperating from an injury sustained on the frontier in Karachi, Captain Jim Agnihotri is intrigued by reports of the deaths of two young Parsi women who fell to their deaths from the university clock tower in Bombay.

Newspapers are full of the sensational details, but Captain Agnihotri, who just happens to be a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes novels, isn’t buying the suicide theory and upon release from hospital, sets out to investigate. He is a swashbuckling hero, changing appearance to blend in with border tribals reminiscent of Ashton Pelham-Martyn (Ash) in The Far Pavilions. He rescues trapped officers on a last mission for the Army as well as a ragtag bunch of children he meets along the way. He is not two-dimensional, he gets hurt physically and emotionally, he falls in love with the beautiful Diana Framji with whom he has no future.

There are palace intrigues, herbal poisons, human trafficking.

It is a many-layered book. A good old-fashioned mystery set in a historically accurate depiction of Bombay in 1892, it is also an account of life during the British raj, the culture and practices of India’s Parsi community and also of the hardships faced by the Anglo-Indian community to which Captain Agnihotri belongs.

Had I not seen that mix of pity and disapproval all my life? Indians did not tolerate the mingling of races any more than the English.

Nev March, who won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award for Murder in Old Bombay, sets the scene with a few deft strokes.

In the tower vestibule the Havildar napped, mouth slack, on his three-legged stool.

An interesting aspect of the book is that while a Parsi herself, March makes the protagonist an Anglo-Indian. As he learns about Pari customs, so do the readers.

Click here to read more about Nev March. 

A SHIP NAMED WINNIPEG

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende, Random House, $40. Civil war grips Spain in the late 1930s. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border.

Among them are Roser, a pregnant young widow and Victor, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

A Long Petal of the Sea traces their lives over the following decades as they discover new strengths and each other in far-away Chile.

The title is from a Pablo Neruda poem in which he describes Chile as “the long petal of the sea and wine and snow”.

The refugees make their way to Chile in a ship named Winnipeg – which Neruda charters for the undertaking – of which Isabel Allende heard as a child.

Fun fact: Chilean remedies for nausea are very similar to desi ones: infusions of fennel, ginger and cumin.

There are other desi references, too.

Theirs was a marriage of convenience, but they had been together for twenty-six years, and loved each other with something more than the quiet acceptance of an arranged marriage in India.

When Victor is upset by Allende’s vulnerability to flattery and pretty women, Roser reminds him that “Allende isn’t Gandhi”.

Characters inspired by real people and real historical figures weave in and out of this fictionalised account of real events.

Certain parts are an eerie reminder of recent newspaper headlines.

France was watching in horror as the border became jammed with a crush of people that the authorities managed to keep barely in check by employing armed soldiers... The whole country was overwhelmed by this massive influx of undesirables, as they were officially called.

THEY WHO SEEK REFUGE

The Certainties by Aislinn Hunter, Knopf Canada, $29.95. In 1940, a man considers the options that lie ahead for him and his companions – people who entered Spain illegally, making the treacherous and exhausting journey through the Pyrenees.

As he does so, his attention is caught by a little girl named Pia who prances down the street ahead of her mother and wanders near his café table. He begins to address what he thinks and feels in his final hours to Pia, envisioning a rich future life for her that both reflects and contrasts with his own. He shares details of his life thus far – of family, friends, of people he has loved and lost, and of the brutality he has witnessed on his journey.

In the 1980s, a young woman named Pia seeks solitude on a remote island in the Atlantic, and reflects on her chaotic childhood. As Pia’s story begins, a raging storm engulfs the island and a boat flounders offshore. Pia and the islanders rush to help as past and present calamities collide.

Pia remembers her mother leading her away from the table after wishing the man well. And saying to her, “So don’t forget him. This is all you can do”.

A blend of history and fiction, The Certainties shows us what it means to bear witness, and to attend to those who seek refuge.

It wraps two worlds around each other, with lives and memories flowing together.

NATURE’S BOUNTY

The Little Book of Nature’s Blessings by Teresa Dellbridge, Watkins, $16.95. When a hypnotherapist, Reiki healer, Wiccan High Priestess and a member of a Druid grove writes that the earth will whisper her magic if you listen with your heart, you are likely to be drawn into her world.

Her message is that all fits in, all is manageable and all things return.

That feeling of comfort persists as you go through the little (literally so!) book, even as you dismiss thoughts of “Oh, this is wacky!”.

Teresa Dellbridge shares the gifts of nature and describes the benefits of walking through the changing seasons. Take a walk. Parks are fine, open spaces and wild woods are even better. Do this alone and in groups. It’s simple, wonderful, essential...An old Latin proverb tells us solvitur ambulando – all is solved by walking.

She reveals the meanings hidden in flowers that people have used to send messages since time immemorial. We may know a red rose conveys deep love, but did you know that a snapdragon means it’s all over between two people? Or that violets denote trust?

Tips on seasonal cooking and recipes  include ones for Mexican hot chocolate and honey cakes – what more can you ask of a book?

SO FAR AWAY

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, Berkley, $36. Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand.

Here, the adults are more than neighbours, the children are more than schoolmates. That is until several vanished bodies shatter the bond of trust, leaving behind whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships and a silent agreement not to look back. But can they run from their past forever?

Eight years later when a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, the tragic past collides with the haunting present.

Nalini Singh welcomes readers to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer.

OLD WORLD

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer, Arrow Books, $19.99. Georgette Heyer introduced readers to a world of dashing noblemen and headstrong women in her books.

Books that were romance novels, yes, but so much more. They were historical fiction, true to the periods they were set in, and ever so witty – The Convenient Marriage being a classic example.

The Earl of Rule will also remind fans of The Scarlet Pimpernel of Percy Blakeney, that other nobleman who leads a double life. Will his young bride discover the real man beneath the foppish exterior?

A jolly good tale on all fronts!

KEEPING COUNT

How Many? by Christopher Danielson, Charlesbridge, $18.99. Will you count apples or apple halves? Will you see two shoes in one box or one pair of shoes?

So many fun ways to count and notice new things!

TEEN REVIEW

By PUNEET SANDHER

Albatross by Terry Fallis, McClelland & Stewart, $22.95. Have you wanted to be the best at a sport without even trying? Albatross by Canadian writer Terry Fallis, is about an Ontarian teenager, Adam Coryell, who experiences this phenomenon. 

Adam’s new gym teacher, Bobbie Davenport, introduces him to his gift of golf  based on a scientific theory that studies the relationship between one’s body measurement and their destined sport. The concept that everyone has one sport that they are best at without any practice or effort is fascinating. Becoming the best golf player in the world requires Adam to give up his passion for writing and also on his girlfriend. He becomes so successful that all the money he makes becomes meaningless, but Bobbie, to fulfill her own dreams, convinces him to continue.   

Bobbie is killed when a murder attempt is made on Adam. Fallis uses her death for Adam to look at life critically and analyze the decisions he has made. Adam decides to live his life to the fullest and he moves back to Toronto to get his master’s in creative writing.

Fallis describes Adam’s inner conflict of pursuing his passion for writing versus what is expected of him as an athlete in an insightful and intriguing manner. However, I feel that this book did not live up to its full potential.

• Puneet Sandher is an alumna, member of Brampton Library’s Teen Library Council.