Outcast
by
Dianne Noble
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Women's fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
In
the daily struggle for survival, she is often brought to her knees,
but finds strength to overcome the poverty and disease, grows to love
the Dalit community she helps.
But
then there are deaths, and she fears for her own safety.
Her
café at home is at risk of being torched, and finally, she has to
make the terrible choice between her daughter and the Indian
children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Penzance,
Cornwall. Sept 2014
A
violent evening sky, bruised, slashed red and purple. Her teeth
chattered as she watched the clouds spit out further bursts of rain.
Pulled on a jumper, poured a glass of Merlot, the bottle clattering
against the glass. Downed it in one. It felt warm and welcoming. Her
stomach revolted instantly and she dashed to the bathroom. Rinsed her
mouth and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Jesus, what a
wreck. White face, red eyes, black mascara streaks. Her hands shook.
She was standing on a precipice, waiting to fall a vast distance,
trying to hold herself together. Sobs racked her body. There was
nobody she could talk to.
Just
after midnight she filled the kettle for coffee and set some soup to
heat. The darkness outside pressed against the windows and the tables
and chairs were ghostly in their emptiness. She heard the rhythmic
tick of the clock, the music thud, thud from a passing car and then
the phone shrilled. Cold fingers of fear squeezed her heart.
‘She
wasn’t on the plane,’
‘What?
But…’ Rose watched the stumbling flight of a moth, struggled to
comprehend.
‘They’ve
checked the passenger list. Ellie didn’t get on the plane.’
She sank
to the floor, thank you God, oh thank you God.
‘You
still there?’
‘Yes.’
Drew in a great, shuddering breath. ‘Yes. Why didn’t she get on?’
Her voice rose. ‘Where is she?’
‘I
have absolutely no idea.’
Review: This is a book that I went into not knowing what to expect and when I finished, I was left with a feeling of WOW! Just wow!
This book was sort of emotionally draining as a mother is searching for her daughter in a distant country. The book starts out in Cornwall and moves to India.
It is a story of a mother and daughter and relationships and all the emotions that those relationships conjure. You get the story from both the point of views of mother, Rose and then a daughter, Hannah who is keeping Rose's shop for her when she goes to India in search of her daughter. Hannah keeps the cafe and tries to do what she can for her druggie mom, Willow.
I really wish the Hannah/Willow story line was a little more developed or more too it. I couldn't understand how someone who was so with it, let it all fall apart when she could have asked for help from her boss when things got out of hand.
Rose was a character that you can really admire. She grew as a person in India, maybe a little faster than you'd expect in reality, but I liked how she jumped in to help the children right away knowing so little about the culture and the country that she was in.
It is interesting to see the role reversal in the characters between Emily and Rose.
I really wish the Hannah/Willow story line was a little more developed or more too it. I couldn't understand how someone who was so with it, let it all fall apart when she could have asked for help from her boss when things got out of hand.
Rose was a character that you can really admire. She grew as a person in India, maybe a little faster than you'd expect in reality, but I liked how she jumped in to help the children right away knowing so little about the culture and the country that she was in.
It is interesting to see the role reversal in the characters between Emily and Rose.
Ms Noble really brings you into the story engaging all your senses as you read.
I will say one thing, I didn't find the book blurb to be an adequate representation of the book. Yes there's drama on both sides of the story, but it isn't as intense as the blurb would make it out to be.
I will say one thing, I didn't find the book blurb to be an adequate representation of the book. Yes there's drama on both sides of the story, but it isn't as intense as the blurb would make it out to be.
I totally loved this book and look forward to reading more by this author.
Rating: 4 stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
I was
brought up as a Service child in Singapore and Cyprus which ensured
itchy feet forever! Journals kept on a lifetime of travelling in far
flung places are now providing rich material for my writing. Readers
will be transported to exotic and atmospheric settings in the company
of women responding to enormous challenges.
I am
currently writing a novel set in Cairo about a forced marriage, and
re-editing an earlier manuscript about an English woman trying to
help the street children of Kolkata, India.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Dianne
Noble will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
RAFFLECOPTER
CODE:
13 comments:
Thank you for hosting
Congrats on the Blog Tour; the novel looks great, and thanks for the chance to win :)
Thank you for the excerpt and for the giveaway! :)
My pleasure entirely. I hope you enjoyed the excerpt and maybe you'll be tempted to visit Amazon to preview more! Good luck with the giveaway!
I've thoroughly enjoyed following the tour for Outcast and can't wait to read it. The excerpts and reviews have been lots of fun to read - thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for sharing this giveaway with us.
This books sounds like an emotional roller coaster! Nice to hear it's worth the ride. :) Thanks for the review.
I'm running late today but still wanting to stop by to thank you for the chance to win
Who are some of your favorite authors; what strikes you about their work?
I was really enjoying following this tour, thank you for all the great blog posts and excerpts!
I enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. Looking forward to checking out this book.
Good Afternoon! I appreciate all the work you have put into bringing us this giveaway, thank you
I have added this book to my TBR list and look forward to reading this book!
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