Publisher: Bethany House
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook
Length: (368) pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Inspirational Fiction
Synopsis Augusta Travers has spent the last three years avoiding the stifling expectations of New York society and her family's constant disappointment. As the nation's most fearless--and reviled--columnist, Gussie travels the country with her Kodak camera and spins stories for women unable to leave hearth and home. But when her adventurous nature lands her in the middle of a scandal, an opportunity to leave America offers the perfect escape.
Arriving in India, she expects only a nice visit with childhood friends, siblings Catherine and Gabriel, and escapades that will further her career. Instead, she finds herself facing a plague epidemic, confusion over Gabriel's sudden appeal, and the realization that what she wants from life is changing. But slowing down means facing all the hurts of her past that she's long been trying to outrun. And that may be an undertaking too great even for her.
My Thoughts Augusta (Gussie) Travers is a photographer who writes columns anonymously for a ladies' magazine. Gussie's unwillingness to conform to her family's and society's rules has resulted in a scandal that only banishment from New York can avert.
James Travers, her uncle and ex-Pinkerton detective, understands Gussie's restlessness, for she has inherited his love of excitement and adventure. They play a strange game that involves James pursuing Gussie wherever her latest escapade takes her to ensure her safety and eventually restore her to her family. While being escorted to her aunt's home by James, Gussie escapes to India, the home of her childhood friends, Gabriel and his sister, Catherine.
India provides more of the excitement that Gussie craves and awakens a need to write more meaningful articles inspired by her reaction to the injustices and beauty of this colourful and exotic land and its people. She also faces a personal dilemma when her feelings for Gabriel become more than childhood affection.
In Every Word Unsaid Kimberly Duffy evokes the sights, smells and sounds of a vibrant India, and writes informatively of the beliefs, laws and traditions of Indian society. In particular, she draws our attention to the sad plight of widows, such as Bimla, who likens herself to Gussie as they are both perceived as worthless by their families and their respective societies.
Gussie was a character I didn't warm to at first. Her actions suggested she was a courageous young lady and a rebel, which indeed she was for the time in which the story was set, but rather than support this aspect of her character, they highlighted her selfishness and immaturity. However, as the story progressed, I enjoyed how Gussie reassessed her life, evaluated her feelings for Gabriel, and aided by a betrayal, found self-worth and a new direction for her career. I admired that she was willing to compromise without sacrificing too much of her personality and dreams.
The Indian setting is what drew me to this novel. Reading it proved to be an engaging and heart-warming experience and I'm happy to recommend this book to others.
Advance Praise “Duffy shines in elegant, flowing prose and delicate precision that underscores the nineteenth-century setting."— Booklist, starred review"An author to watch."— Library Journal
"Duffy's writing is beautiful, deep, and contemplative."— Jocelyn Green, Christy Award-winning author of Shadows of the White City
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Yvonne. I loved that this novel was set in Victorian India. That is unusual.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that part of it too.
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