Teatime for the Firefly [B2311]

2013 french-flap PB, clean with minor cover wear. A compelling love story set against a culture grounded in tradition, about to be changed forever in the onslaught of WWII. Layla Roy has defied the fates. Despite being born under an inauspicious horoscope, she is raised to be educated and independent by her eccentric grandfather, Dadamoshai. And, by cleverly manipulating the hand fortune has dealt her, she has even found love with Manik Deb-a man betrothed to another. All were minor miracles in India that spring of 1943, when young women's lives were predetermined-if not by the stars, then by centuries of family tradition and social order. Layla's life as a newly married woman takes her away from home and into the jungles of Assam, where the world's finest tea thrives on plantations run by native labor and British efficiency. Fascinated by this culture of whiskey-soaked expats who seem fazed by neither earthquakes nor man-eating leopards, she struggles to find her place among the prickly English wives with whom she is expected to socialize, and the peculiar servants she now finds under her charge.

But navigating the tea-garden set will hardly be her biggest challenge. Layla's remote home is not safe from the powerful changes sweeping India on the heels of the Second World War. Their colonial society is at a tipping point, and Layla and Manik find themselves caught in a perilous racial divide that threatens their very lives.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Very captivating, interesting, and rewarding read. Set across the backdrop of a very violent and scary time in Indian history, it has a lot to say about colonialism, identity, and tradition."; "Shona Patel created a world that couldn't be more different than my own but still felt like home, characters who comfortably became like friends and and family, and a narrative so vivid and captivating, it begs for a sequel."; "I enjoyed learning about Assam tea and the Indian culture. A great book."; "A fascinating, enthralling look at India's tea gardens and the ending of the British rule in India, with a delightful romance thrown in."