I’m so happy to bring my review as part of the blog tour on behalf of Rachel’s Random Resources. Thanks to Rachel Gilbey and Shivani Bansal for the ARC of the book to take part.
Punjab, India. It’s 1942 and Meena is still a girl when her parents tell her she is to be married, in five days, to a total stranger. What’s more, he lives in Kenya. A different country, a different continent, thousands of miles away from everything she knows. She doesn’t want to marry, but with four brothers and sisters, Meena knows she will be a burden to her parents if she stays. And it isn’t her decision to make.
Nairobi, Kenya. Meena’s new home is beyond anything she could have imagined. Nairobi is beautiful, but tensions under the colonial British rule run high. She is told she is lucky because her husband Amar is young and handsome, but all is not as it seems within her marriage… Tucked away from the outside world, Meena spends her time by the mango tree dreaming of going home… until she realises the friendships that she forges here are all she can hold onto.
Going from girl to woman in a strange land, can Meena find a way to finally make her life her own?
A debut novel that is loosely based on the authors grandmother’s life. It isn’t just a tale of a young woman, this is a journey through a life that experienced so much and found a way to get through most things that would have broken many women. It’s compelling and at times sad, most of all it’s a book that I didn’t want to put down.
Set in 1942 in India and Kenya we learn of Meena, a young woman who lives in India with her family until she is married to Amar. She has to make a new life in Kenya, surrounded by strangers, with no one to turn to, it is a hard time for her. Then she ends up friends with her sister-in-law, which gives her a little lightness, until she discovers Amars abusive nature.
As the years pass they move to the U.K but Amar is still the abusive husband he always was and Meena lives with this. Meena’s happy times are spent with her children and her friend, Kanika and she is the one who helps her through.
I always love historical fiction due to feeling like I am educating myself as well as learning. Lilac Skies taught me much more than I knew about India and Kenya before this. It was interesting too as my Grandfather fought over near Kenya in the second world War! Apart from the historical content, the human content was at times, humorous and other times harrowing.
Shivani Bansal knows how to write a powerful story. Issues such as domestic violence against women and miscarriage too are dealt with perfectly. It made Meena all the more relatable and made me want to look after her on her journey. The unfairness of her life did make me think about the hand a lot of women are handed in life and made me feel so angry.
A perfectly paced, well written debut that is a book which took me through almost every emotion and left me thinking after I had finished the book.
Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3SxkNKc
Author Bio
Shivani Bansal has a First Class degree in International Relations and Politics, which has yet to be put to use! She works full time in digital marketing in the charity sector, and also runs a small baking business from home called Sweet Beginnings Bakes. She loves writing story ideas in her Pusheen notebook in her spare time.
Social Media Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shivanib_writer
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 