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dennasus's review against another edition
3.0
This story is set in the post WWII years and starts in England where nurse / midwife Kit Smallwood meets and falls in love with Anto, a young doctor from India, who is finishing his medical education. After their marriage they move to India, which had just recently gained independence from Great Britain and where Kit isn’t welcomed with open arms, neither from Anto’s family nor the midwives community.
I admit, I didn’t – and still don’t – know a lot about India neither while it was still under British rule nor after their independence. Reading about this foreign culture and country and to see it through Kit’s eyes was interesting and educational. I didn’t get overly attached to the main characters though, which is why their lives and fate didn’t move or touch me as other stories have.
I admit, I didn’t – and still don’t – know a lot about India neither while it was still under British rule nor after their independence. Reading about this foreign culture and country and to see it through Kit’s eyes was interesting and educational. I didn’t get overly attached to the main characters though, which is why their lives and fate didn’t move or touch me as other stories have.
beltorres91's review against another edition
4.0
It was very entertaining. I liked the fact that it is set in India because I never read a book set there before.
cynsfictionaddiction's review against another edition
3.0
The recently released novel “Monsoon Summer” by Julia Gregson took me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as the main characters Kit and Anto met and fell in love. Their newfound love was exciting as they stole moments in secret for the first few moments. However, just as secrets always come out, this novel portrays how Kit and Anto’s relationship evolved once they were forced to deal with the realities of their situation. At a tumultuous time for the British interacting with Indians, British nurse Kit and Indian doctor Anto turned their lives and their families upside down when they married after a few short months together. At the height of their independence from England, the couple moved to India.
Gregson did a remarkable job of portraying the time from how Kit and Anto interacted when they first met to beginning their lives as an unwelcome interracial couple. All of the details from the various ways people dressed to the poverty depicted to the attitudes of the Indians toward the British, I felt transported to this time and place in ways that had previously been completely unknown.
I haven’t read many books about British-Indian relations or Indian culture. While the patriarchal structure wasn’t surprising, it was astonishing to read about the perception of midwives in India and their caste system. Particularly in a place where there were so many midwives and it was difficult to give birth at a hospital, I expected midwives to be much more common and respected than the world that Gregson showed.
The novel was a bit slow at times. I actually expected a lot more tension between the families toward the couple. Anto’s mother blamed a lot of what went wrong on Kit when sending her son away at such a young age for so long was bound to distance him from the family, but Amma was also one of the strongest most stabilizing characters in the book.
“Monsoon Summer” was overall a terrific portrayal of life and love, particularly as it changes over the course of a relationship and throughout the years. Some people fall apart and others fight to stay together. In this case, despite the white lies and struggles, Kit and Anto’s love was inspiring in the way they chose to support and accept each other.
For this and other book reviews, please visit: https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/
Gregson did a remarkable job of portraying the time from how Kit and Anto interacted when they first met to beginning their lives as an unwelcome interracial couple. All of the details from the various ways people dressed to the poverty depicted to the attitudes of the Indians toward the British, I felt transported to this time and place in ways that had previously been completely unknown.
I haven’t read many books about British-Indian relations or Indian culture. While the patriarchal structure wasn’t surprising, it was astonishing to read about the perception of midwives in India and their caste system. Particularly in a place where there were so many midwives and it was difficult to give birth at a hospital, I expected midwives to be much more common and respected than the world that Gregson showed.
The novel was a bit slow at times. I actually expected a lot more tension between the families toward the couple. Anto’s mother blamed a lot of what went wrong on Kit when sending her son away at such a young age for so long was bound to distance him from the family, but Amma was also one of the strongest most stabilizing characters in the book.
“Monsoon Summer” was overall a terrific portrayal of life and love, particularly as it changes over the course of a relationship and throughout the years. Some people fall apart and others fight to stay together. In this case, despite the white lies and struggles, Kit and Anto’s love was inspiring in the way they chose to support and accept each other.
For this and other book reviews, please visit: https://thebookbasics.wordpress.com/
mdunford78's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book, learning about the complexities of family and culture. The ending wasn't quite what I was expecting.
soupy_twist's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
yyc_heather's review against another edition
3.0
I've really enjoyed Julia Gregson's other books, especially East of the Sun, so I was looking forward to reading another book set in India. While it was really well researched, and the historical detail was fantastic, I couldn't quite believe in the characters; they're a little too modern. Kit seemed painfully naive; do you really marry someone of another race in 1948 with absolutely no idea of how upset both families will be? Do you really announce your intention to keep working after having kids (in 1948 India) and expect your husband and his family to be OK with it? Those are modern expectations, and they really didn't fit with the era of the story.
tiareleine's review against another edition
DNF at page 155
I was hoping this book would be a sweet romance and/or an interesting cultural exploration. But all it was was boring. I didn’t care about any of the characters, I felt absolutely no chemistry in the relationship, the writing style was very jumpy, and I had to force myself to pick it up just to make any progress. I see a lot of other people really loved this book, and I wish I was one of them. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.
I was hoping this book would be a sweet romance and/or an interesting cultural exploration. But all it was was boring. I didn’t care about any of the characters, I felt absolutely no chemistry in the relationship, the writing style was very jumpy, and I had to force myself to pick it up just to make any progress. I see a lot of other people really loved this book, and I wish I was one of them. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.
mrs_merdle's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I finally finished this. The last quarter of the book saved it from a lower rating, but couldn't quite win me over enough to make me really happy with it. Nothing quite measures up to East of the Sun.