From Amazon
An orphan boy adopted by an English doctor, living near Madras, in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu: Nataraj.

A headstrong teenager, daughter of an Indian lawyer in Georgetown, British Guiana: Sarojini.

Back in Madras, earlier, a cook's daughter, of Brahmin descent but a servant girl in an affluent English family: Savitri.

And a cast of colorful supporting characters: a strong-minded but utterly fallible and therefore most "human" father; several brothers, one mean-spirited, one good-natured but weak, and another one, in another family, loving and mischievous; a willful girlfriend with a penchant for the arts; a mother at times more feminist politician than mom; a busybody mother with a constant need to organize, control and meddle; and last but not least, a wise and patient teacher.

Sprinkle this mixture generously with compassion, humor, love in all its incarnations and that profound understanding of the Indian society which only comes from personal experience; then add the author's personal secret touch.

These are the ingredients of the literary feast offered to the reader in Sharon Maas's debut novel "Of Marriageable Age," bringing together the imaginative powers of a born storyteller with a lifetime's worth of personal experience. And like an Indian meal, her novel is rich in flavors, slowly and skillfully blending a myriad of exquisite parts into a perfectly tempered composition, leaving enough room for each ingredient to develop its full perfume while at the same time creating a new, perfectly composed oeuvre of its own.


From the back

"Three people across three decades in a story of intertwined dramas and mysterious legacies"


a wonderful story, very touching and manages to be a real page turner.

Ring starting soon

Morsecode (NY USA)
PRCS (Ontario, Canada)
Elsita (Almada, Portugal)
Laura0141 (Glasgow, scotland)
PurpleRosebud (Hants. England)
LindyB28 (Birmingham. England)
sjr1969 (Birmingham. England)- it's here

Back to me Heaven-Ali


sent to Morsecode on 9th Nov.

This book arrived today. I hope to get it back on the road on Saturday.

An absolutely glorious debut novel!
This book is quite long ~530 pages, but I read it in one day. I just wanted to keep reading until I finished it.
Heaven-Ali, I am so glad that you introduced me to this author and I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

I'll be sending it off to PRCS on Monday.

This book arrived from morsecode this morning,
have started reading it but could not read it
in one day it will take me at least 2/3 weeks
4 maximum !!! thanks Heaven Ali

this was an interesting and unusual book about 3
cultures, was interested about the descriptions of Guyana as I visted this summer would like to have seen more of this country but only had a week in all this book was a worth while read compared to some bookrings i have been on !!!
Hope to mail this book soon to Elista in Portugal.

It's with me!

Thanks for the postcard, PRCS!!

Just to let you know that the book is still with me... 200 pages to go and I'm loving it!
Hope to finish it soon and send the book along.
Thanks!

What a lovely story!
India, love, friendship, hate, honour, tradition...all this in the lives of Nat, Saroj, Savitri and David.

Thanks for the chance to read this, Heaven-Ali.
It's going to laura0141 next week.

RELEASE NOTES:

to Laura0141

Received with thanks. Mt TBR 3

Starting this tonight.

I'm not getting much time to read at the moment and am not even half way through this after a month so I'm going to pass it to the next reader.

On way to purplerosebud

Thanks Laura0141 the book has arrived today. Luckily I finished my current bookring this morning so I have started on it straight away. A few chapters in and I'm enjoying it, so hopefully the 530 pages won't take me forever to read.

I really enjoyed this book and it didn't take me forever to read as I found it very addictive! I have to confess to jumping a few chapters when I couldn't wait to find out what happened to a particular character next. A lovely story about some very different to culters to our own and with a few twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.

Thanks for sharing. I will be sending it off to LindyB28 when I have her address.

The book was in my pigeon hole this morning. Thanks Ali and Purplerosebud :-)
I'm looking forward to reading this one...

This book was one which I wasn't sure I would enjoy from the first few chapters. I thought it seemed a bit formulaic, and was frustrated that the "bad" characters weren't as fully drawn as those who were unambiguously "good".
But, goodness me, all of a sudden I become completely immersed in the three parallel narratives, absolutely desperate to learn how they would all fit together. Last night I was about 200 pages before the end, and was literally unable to put it down until I had finished.
Golly. It is a wonderful book; it has its imperfections but casts a spell that is impossible to resist.

Will PM SarahJane for her address :-)

Thanks Ali (you have jolly good taste in books!)

This was waiting for me when I arrived home. Thanks Linda for sending on, and thanks to Ali for offering this on a bookring.

Will post later when I have read some.

Oh my goodness!

I tried to read this book when I first recieved it but for some reason I was not in the mood. I picked it up again on Thursday 8th June 2006 and have just finished it.

What a story, I have to admit I cried with a smile on my face (if that makes sense) when I read the final pages. I enjoyed this book very much.

I apologise in advance as I am going on holiday on Wednesday, but will send ASAP on my return to the UK.

Thanks Ali for sharing this special book.

RELEASE NOTES:

In the Saloon Bar