Teatime for the Firefly - by Shona Patel (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of Alka Joshi's The Henna Artist, comes a compelling love story set against a culture grounded in tradition, about to be changed forever in the onslaught of WWII.

My name is Layla and I was born under an unlucky star. For a young girl growing up in India, this is bad news. But everything began to change for me one spring day in 1943, when three unconnected incidents, like tiny droplets on a lily leaf, tipped and rolled into one. It was that tiny shift in the cosmos, I believe, that tipped us together--me and Manik Deb.

Layla Roy has defied the fates. Despite being born under an inauspicious horoscope, she is raised to be educated and independent by her eccentric grandfather, Dadamoshai. And, by cleverly manipulating the hand fortune has dealt her, she has even found love with Manik Deb--a man betrothed to another. All were minor miracles in India that spring of 1943, when young women's lives were predetermined--if not by the stars, then by centuries of family tradition and social order.

Layla's life as a newly married woman takes her away from home and into the jungles of Assam, where the world's finest tea thrives on plantations run by native labor and British efficiency. Fascinated by this culture of whiskey-soaked expats who seem fazed by neither earthquakes nor man-eating leopards, she struggles to find her place among the prickly English wives with whom she is expected to socialize, and the peculiar servants she now finds under her charge.

But navigating the tea-garden set will hardly be her biggest challenge. Layla's remote home is not safe from the powerful changes sweeping India on the heels of the Second World War. Their colonial society is at a tipping point, and Layla and Manik find themselves caught in a perilous racial divide that threatens their very lives.

Review Quotes

"Patel's remarkable debut effortlessly transports readers back to India on the brink of independence.... Fans of romantic women's fiction will be enchanted by Teatime for the Firefly's enthralling characters, exotic setting, and evocative writing style." -Booklist, starred review

"Debut author Patel offers a stunning, panoramic view of a virtually unknown time and place-the colonial British tea plantations of Assam-while bringing them to life through a unique character's perspective.... A lyrical novel that touches on themes both huge and intimate." -Kirkus Reviews

"A wonderfully intricate world of the Assam tea plantations and the adventures and heartaches of marriage.... The historical detail makes this debut novel a rich reading experience. Those who enjoy historical fiction and portraits of foreign cultures will surely love this book." -Library Journal

"A refreshing, fascinating debut novel by a woman who writes with humor and pathos that comes from experience." ?BookReporter.com

"With lyrical prose and exquisite detail, Shona Patel's novel brings to life the rich and rugged landscape of India's tea plantation, harboring a sweet love story at its core."

- Shilpi Somaya Gowda, New York Times bestselling author of Secret Daughter

"Patel takes readers on a vivid tour of 1940s India, exploring the attitudes of the day and the traditions of the tea-growing region of Assam. The story ebbs and flows gracefully, sure to keep readers actively engaged and fervently enticed. Simply stated, Teatime for the Firefly is a true treasure." -RT Book Reviews

About the Author

Shona Patel, the daughter of an Assam tea planter, drew upon her personal observations and experiences to create the vivid characters and setting for Teatime for the Firefly. An honors graduate in English literature from Calcutta University, Ms. Patel has won several awards for creative writing and is a trained graphic and architectural designer. Teatime for the Firefly is her debut novel.