A novel about India in the late 1800s. I've been putting off reading this book– despite it being hugely famous and people constantly asking me if I've read it– because I'm pretty sure it's going to be obnoxiously pro-colonialism. (The dedication, for instance, is to the author's husband and fathe...
This was a fun, old-fashioned whodunnit, complete with exotic location, intrepid heroine and steely-eyed hero. And now I really want to visit Kashmir.Gulmarg ski resortThey fanned out on the crest of Slalom Hill and each took their own line, swooping down over the crisp shimmering surface like a ...
Three stars because well-written and enjoyable to read but My God! there are some serious issues in this book which made me decide on a two-stars rating. Beware spoilers!First,the rape was pretty badly plotted in order to make it an acceptable part of the romantic plot. It's logical considering t...
Wow. I really milked this one out. Three months, that's insane! But it wasn't because I didn't like it, more that I savored it in small bedtime size portions.If you're at all remotely interested in the Raj or India in general at the turn of the century, you must read this. M.M.Kaye lived a fasci...
Murder mystery with a dash of romance, written in 1960 and set in the exotic Andaman Islands, a former British penal colony that is now part of Bangladesh. Caroline Randal, known as "Copper," is a young Englishwoman invited to visit her old school chum, Valerie, who now lives on Ross Island in th...
I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Germany-related, and this 1955 murder mystery, set in post-WWII Berlin, has its charms, but it was kind of like an old-timey train ride (the kind this novel actually starts out with). The train has some reasonably comfortable sleeping compartments, an...
I have been meaning to read all three of Kaye's autobiographical works but i have only managed to get my hands on sun in the morning for now. I did hear that she was not able to complete her life's story but I do not know how much of it was she able to put into words. since enchanted evening is t...
WANTED: One little princess, preferably the youngest of seven. Should have no blue eyes and no golden hair. Should love the woods more than her clothes. In other words, should be 'ordinary'. In her foreword to The Ordinary Princess M M Kaye says she was inspired to write this story after re-readi...
Dany Ashton is an innocent abroad. Brought up by a very strict, ultra-protective aunt, she has seen very little of the world and this story is about her first excursion alone. And it just might wind up being her last. Dany's mother hasn't been much of one. She has made her way through several...