Review: Under the Golden Sun (by Jenny Ashcroft)

My Rating: 4 stars

I remember starting off my 2021 reading year last year with Jenny Ashcroft's previous novel Meet Me in Bombay, which I had been apprehensive about at first, but ended up truly enjoying.  At the time, Ashcroft was a "new-to-me" author writing in a genre (historical romance) that could sometimes be a "hit or miss" category for me. After having enjoyed that novel, I went into her newest release, Under the Golden Sun, with higher expectations and I'm happy to report that this one definitely did not disappoint.  In fact, I actually ended up enjoying this one more, perhaps because I found the story more emotionally resonant, for one, and two, I loved all the characters in here — Rose, Walter, Max, Vivian, Esme, Lauren, etc. — to the point that I didn't want their story to end.  

Of course, going into this, I already knew it would be a love story, but unlike Ashcroft's previous novel, this one definitely felt more well-balanced in terms of the way the historical elements and setting (Australia during WWII period) were incorporated into the story. In other words, the love story didn't overwhelm the plot, but rather complemented it.  Much of this is attributed to the beautiful, atmospheric writing, with its vividly-rendered descriptions of the lush Australian landscape against the backdrop of the historical events of the time period.  Even though there were moments of frustration with some of the characters and at times, I felt like yelling out in exasperation during a few scenes, I found myself captivated by the story overall and felt compelled to keep turning the pages in order to find out what happens to these characters that eventually grew on me.  

One thing that surprised me about my reading experience with this book is the resonance I felt with the story, especially on an emotional level.  I wasn't expecting this book to both make me laugh and make me cry at various points of the story, but that's exactly what it did.  I appreciate a book that makes me feel as much as one that makes me ponder and reflect and this one definitely fits the bill.  With this newest release, Ashcroft adds yet another solid historical novel to her repertoire— I can't wait to read what she comes out with next!

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: Meet Me in Bombay (by Jenny Ashcroft)

My Rating: 4 stars

As my first official read of the new year, Jenny Ashcroft's Meet Me in Bombay is a book that I found difficult to put down as soon as I started reading it.  When I first read the book's summary and saw that the premise would be a love story set in Bombay, against the backdrop of the Great War, I admit that I was a little apprehensive, as I'm not usually one to gravitate toward love stories for one, and two, I wasn't sure what to expect with Ashcroft being a "new-to-me" author whose previous works I've never read. Also, while I'm a fan of historical fiction, I'm not too keen on historical romances, which I knew this one would be going into it.  In the end though, the setting of pre-WWI Bombay won me over, mainly because there are so few historical fiction novels nowadays that are set in this time period, so to come across one, even if it's a romance, I felt it would still be worth my time.  I'm glad I went with this one, as it turned out to be a good story, well told (even though there were definitely moments where I felt frustrated with parts of the story).

 

The story revolves around Madeline ("Maddy") Bright, the daughter of a British diplomat stationed in Bombay, India during the early 1900s.  Having spent most of her childhood and adult life in England, Maddy returns to the place of her birth thinking it will only be a temporary visit to see her parents – however, due to unforeseen circumstances back home, she ends up remaining in Bombay indefinitely.  At a New Year's Eve party in 1913, she meets charismatic Luke Devereaux and over the course of the next few months, they fall deeply in love. As Maddy and Luke are on the brink of planning for a happy future together, World War I erupts and as Luke is in the reserves, he has no choice but to join the ranks and fight in the war.  Forcibly separated due to circumstances beyond their control, Maddy is consoled by Luke's promise to return to her after the war – a promise that becomes difficult to keep after Luke emerges from the war broken and unable to remember the woman he once loved.

 

Based on the summary, I initially went into this one thinking the story would be predictable, but was pleasantly surprised that the author ended up taking an entirely different direction than I anticipated.  Right off the bat, the structure of the story was already unique, as it started off with snippets of what sounds like a letter from a soldier to his lost love, and then from there, the narrative goes back and forth in time, slowly revealing bits and pieces of a story that we don't get a full picture of until the very last pages. It was an interesting structure and I came away with a sense of awe at how the story turned out (with my immediate reaction being to go back through some of the previous sections in the later timeline to validate the way the threads came together). 

 

In terms of the writing, Ashcroft's style here was very descriptive, and like most good historical fiction, atmospheric to the point that I felt transported to the time and place and circumstances that the characters were experiencing.  With that said though, some parts were a bit too descriptive and unnecessarily drawn out, but fortunately it didn't detract too much from the overall story (at least it didn't to me).   I found this to be an immersive read – so much so that I ended up finishing it in two sittings without even realizing it.  My one complaint though, as I alluded to earlier, was that some parts of the story frustrated me, especially as it pertained to a few of the characters (i.e. Maddy and her mother Alice) and the (at times) seemingly intentional lack of communication between some of them which resulted in things happening that I felt were preventable.  I saw these instances as "melodrama for melodrama's sake," which never fail to annoy me whenever they occur in any story (not just this one).  Luckily, these moments were few enough that it didn't negatively impact the story in a huge way.

 

So far, it looks like my 2021 reading life is getting off to a good start.  While there's no way for me to anticipate how this new year will turn out, one thing I can always rely on is that I will encounter at least a few (hopefully way more) good books that enhance my reading experience.  I'm excited and definitely looking forward to it!

 

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.