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Thursday

Review of The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey, a mystery of 1920s India

The “Bombay prince” is the future Edward VIII, who in November 1921 took a four-month tour of India, one of the many colonial lands he expected to rule one day. Many Indians supporting independence were angry about the visit, which led to calls for boycotts and agitation in the streets.

This historic event is the setting for the third in Sujata Massey’s excellent mysteries of 1920s India featuring Perveen Mistry, the country’s first female solicitor (she’s fictional but based on a real-life figure).

Miss Freny Cuttingmaster, a talented student at Woodburn College, stops by Mistry Law for a legal consultation with Perveen. She and her classmates are required to attend the parade celebrating the Prince of Wales’s arrival in Bombay, but Freny detests what he symbolizes and wants to stay away. Impressed by her principles, Perveen advises her as best she can. Then, on the day of the procession, poor Freny’s body is found on the ground, beneath a balcony on her campus. Was her death suicide-as-protest, a political murder, or something else?

Massey admirably directs a cast of dozens, all with distinct personalities and with a range of religious backgrounds. The amount of cultural information smoothly woven through these pages is astounding and is exhibited via the characters’ interactions. The Cuttingmasters are Parsis, like Perveen, which leads her and her lawyer father, Jamshedji, to advocate for Freny’s distraught parents during the coroner’s inquest and ensure her funeral at Doongerwadi isn’t improperly delayed. Feeling an affinity for their late daughter, Perveen wants to see justice done, but she’s disconcerted by Mr. Cuttingmaster’s abruptness (he’s a tailor, as his name suggests) and tries to act without causing offense. She doesn’t always succeed.

Perveen’s manner feels stiff at times, which she acknowledges; it feels appropriate to her status as a pioneering woman in her field who happens to be separated from an abusive husband. Both on the job and within society, her behavior must be above reproach, plus Jamshedji disapproves of her socializing with men. This includes Colin Sandringham, an English political agent helping to arrange the prince’s itinerary. Readers of the previous book will be happy to see him again. Perveen and Colin had become close during her trip to Satapur, but as for a relationship between them – there be danger ahead, she knows.

Followers of the series should delight in how this book ends, and anyone tempted by mentions of the delicious Indian dishes consumed by the characters can find recipes on the author’s website.

The Bombay Prince was published by Soho in 2021; thanks to the publisher for approving me on NetGalley.


from Reading the Past https://ift.tt/39ty69E

1 comment:

  1. 2022년도 1분기 관광 수입은 전년 동기 대비 213% 증가한 13억 달러에 이르렀다. 모든 부분에서 성장하였으나 쇼핑(373%)과 숙박(344%)부분에서 전년대비 가장 높은 성장률을 기록했다. 어린 아이들은 그네를 타는 다른 젊은이들로부터 안전한 길이로 머물러야 하며, 현재는 그네를 옮기기 전이나 그네를 타거나 다시 걷지 않도록 식보 주의해야 한다. 투어 종료 후 밴드는 세션 일정을 유지하기 위해 특정 인물의 계획을 쫓기 위해 잠시 휴식을 취했다. 영화계의 다른 멤버들은 스미스를 비난했는데, 라스트 사무라이 제작자 마샬 허스코비츠는 아카데미에 그를 징계할 것을 요구했고 스타워즈 배우 마크 해밀은 "역대 가장 추악한 오스카 순간"이라고 말했다. 다음 섹션에서 Sean "Diddy" Combs는 다음과 같이 말했습니다.

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