Coromandel Sea Change

From Rumer Godden, the acclaimed author of Black Narcissus returns again to her beloved India with a novel brimming with heart, wit, unforgettable characters, and 'a sense of timelessness reminiscent of E. M. Forster' (The Times).Hotel owner Auntie Sanni has entertained all manner of guests during her many years as hostess at Patna Hall, a popular vacation spot on the lush Coromandel coast. Now, with an election coming, business is especially brisk, and her hotel is packed with Indian politicians, British diplomats, journalists, American tourists - even an elephant, and a woman of mystery or two.Among the vacationers are Mary and Blaise, a young English couple on their honeymoon. But where Mary is enchanted by the colours, sounds and vibrant Indian life, prim and priggish Blaise sees only squalor, sordidness and a Coromandel Sea teeming with sharks.Matters are only made worse when Mary becomes interested in local Indian politics - particularly the handsome, exquisitely spoken candidate Krishnan, whose kindness and wisdom are like a balm for her spirit . . .

A novelist of many gifts. Daily Telegraph
[Godden has] a genius for storytelling. Evening Standard
One of our best and most captivating novelists -- Philip Hensher
Her craftsmanship is always sure; her understanding of character is compassionate and profound; her prose is pure, delicate, and gently witty New York Times

Rumer Godden (1907-1998) was born in Sussex, England, she moved with her family to Narayanganj, colonial India (now Bangladesh) when she was six months old. She returned to the United Kingdom for good at the end of the Second World War and continued her prolific literary career with the acclaimed novels The Greengage Summer, In This House of Brede and numerous others. Godden won the Whitbread Award for children's literature in 1972, and in 1993 she was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Nine of her novels have been made into motion pictures. She died at the age of ninety in Dumfriesshire, UK.

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