Mar 07, 2011 02:00
2. Sarita Mandanna, Tiger Hills
Devi is a beautiful, strong-willed young girl, growing up in Coorg, a rural, mountainous area of South India, in the late 1800s. She's in love with Machu, a warrior famous for having killed a tiger single-handedly. Devanna, Machu's younger cousin, is a quiet, intelligent boy, studying to be a doctor, who's in love with Devi. As you might expect, things don't turn out well.
This novel has some beautiful descriptions of scenery (apparently Coorg- spelled Kodagu today- is known as 'the Scotland of India'), but the plot is a bit over-the-top, with tragedy following tragedy. I enjoyed reading to pass the time on a long bus trip, but I'm not sure I can genuinely recommend it, unless you're looking for something to read that won't require a lot of thought.
south asian,
south asia,
india,
women writers,
women's fiction,
historical fiction,
relationships,
medium:novel,
novel,
historical,
coming of age,
(delicious),
fiction,
genre:historical.fiction,
indian,
romance,
family,
english,
1800s,
orig.lang:english,
colonialism