A murder at a British boarding school in the hills of western India launches a young teacher on the journey of a lifetime In 1974, three weeks before her twenty-first birthday, Charulata Apte arrives at Miss Timmins' School for Girls in Panchgani. Shy, sheltered, and running from a scandal that disgraced her Brahmin family, Charu finds herself teaching Shakespeare to rich Indian girls in a boarding school still run like an outpost of the British Empire. In this small, foreign universe, Charu is drawn to the charismatic teacher Moira Prince, who introduces her to pot-smoking hippies, rock ‘n' roll, and freedoms she never knew existed.
Then one monsoon night, a body is found at the bottom of a cliff, and the ordered worlds of school and town are thrown into chaos. When Charu is implicated in the murder—a case three intrepid schoolgirls take it upon themselves to solve—Charu's real education begins. A love story and a murder mystery, Miss Timmins' School for Girls is, ultimately, a coming-of-age tale set against the turbulence of the 1970s as it played out in one small corner of India.
Doesn't this sound intriguing?? Since I was eyeball deep in another Harper Collins book (stay tuned for that one) I let my mother-in-law The Queen Bee read Miss Timmins' School for Girls first (she is an avid reader and I knew she would have it back in my beach bag in a flash!). Here is the Queen Bee's Buzz on it...
I am not a "mystery" book fan, per se. There are many books out there that have plot twists , but I don't count them as mysteries. When I saw this book listed on two magazines summer reading lists, I had to give it a go. The story is set in India, so I knew that there would be character names that I would maybe stumble over. It has become almost a little pet peeve of mine that authors are using names that just become a blob to me as I read and I cannot get fully into a character if I can't pronounce their name, but I digress.
The story begins as a young woman, Charu, gets hired by an all girls school as a teacher. The author does a good job describing the school and the eclectic mix of women who are teachers at the school. The head mistress is definitely a character that befits a mystery and you get a real feel for the dynamics that are key to the story. Charu is a young woman, an introvert, going from her parent's sheltered upbringing, into this new world of teaching. She meets and becomes friends with a very moody gym teacher named Moira, or "Pin" to her friends. Moira's friends are pretty much a bunch of hippies, and Charu gets introduced to a crazy life complete sex, drugs and rock 'n 'roll. There were times when I skimmed over parts of this book, something I don't like to do. Sometimes the author went into details and explanations that I lost patience for, but for the most part, the first half of the book were about these two separate worlds that Charu was living in. And then, the murder...two worlds colliding and spinning out of control.
I thought author Currimbhoy played this mystery to perfection. Where the story ended up was a far cry from the beginning ! So I recommend that you add this book to your summer reading list.
Sounds like The Queen Bee loved it! I can't wait to dive into next. You can pick up your copy today from Amazon...
Thanks to the publisher, Harper Perennial, one RBM reader will win a copy of Miss Timmins' School for Girls! Thanks so much to the sponsor. Here is how to enter...Sounds like The Queen Bee loved it! I can't wait to dive into next. You can pick up your copy today from Amazon...
Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment telling me where you would most like to read this book. I would be happy reading this in a lounge chair at the beach! You must complete this entry for all others to count.
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Please leave a separate comment for each entry and be sure to include your e-mail. Contest is open to US residents and will end on July 18th The lucky winner will be announced by e-mail on July 19th and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen . Good Luck!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions in this post are entirely my own. Your experience may differ from mine. This post has not been reviewed or edited by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this review. The sponsor of this giveaway is responsible for prize fulfillment and shipping the winner(s) their prize.
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