Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

There's little doubt Manor of Secrets is one of several young adult novels that are attempting to capitalize on the popularity and success of the British miniseries, Downton Abbey. With a cover model who looks remarkably like Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) that's were the similarity ends in this plodding, tedious novel.

Sixteen-year-old Lady Charlotte Edmonds lives at The Manor, with her parents, Lord Edmonds and Lady Diane. Charlotte is bored and unhappy with her aristocratic life. She wishes to be free of the constraints her social class places on her and dreams of escape and adventure, of being a writer and living in the Cote d'Azur with a handsome man at her side. Her desires are often described in her secret writings, hidden in a box in her room and preoccupy her thoughts.

Fran Caldwell is Charlotte's best friend. She doesn't understand Charlotte's desire not to marry and to be a writer. Fran wants to marry one of Charlotte's older brothers, David, so she can have a life of ease.

Janie Seward is a kitchen maid. Her mother, Mrs. Seward is the cook for The Manor. Janie has never known her father, who left to join the Army and died in South Africa. Janie grew up with poor relatives and has only recently come to work at The Manor. 

At a lawn party, Charlotte and Fran see Janie sneaking down to the Manor lake and find her sans stockings, dipping her feet in the lake. Fran orders the maid back to the house despite Charlotte not wanting her to do this. After Fran leaves, impulsively Charlotte decides to dip her feet in the lake, soiling her dress with mud. Minutes later, the new, handsome footman, Lawrence discovers Charlotte at the lake and helps her sneak into the house through the servant's entrance at the back, a part of the house she's not supposed to enter.

The next morning, while the kitchen staff, including Janie, Molly the scullery maid, Mrs. Seward and Tess are preparing breakfast for the Edmonds, the butler, Mr. Foyle informs them that an unexpected guest has arrived. That guest is Lady Diane's younger sister, Lady Beatrice Smythe. Lady Beatrice had run away with a rich commoner years ago, living on his plantations in India and Malaya. After his death she had moved to Italy. She has been away from England for sixteen years. Because of her indecorous past, there is tension between Lady Diane and her unconventional sister.

Charlotte finds her Aunt Beatrice to be very different from her mother's cold, distant manner. Lady Diane tells her daughter that Beatrice's unexpected arrival will make things awkward at the shooting party which is to be held over the next few days. Charlotte's mother advises her to pay special attention to eighteen-year-old Lord Andrew Broadhurst who is heir to the Earl of Ashdown and therefore a desirable marriage prospect. She also advises Charlotte to pay less attention to the mysterious Aunt Beatrice who will be leaving soon. But Charlotte is not interested in the seemingly dull Lord Andrew. She wants a dashing man full of adventure at her side. And she's determined to discover why her mother and Beatrice are estranged, what brought her aunt to the Manor and why her mother wants her to leave so quickly.

To help her learn more about her Aunt Beatrice, Charlotte approaches Janie one evening in the downstairs of the household where the serving staff work asking her to keep her ears open for any information about Beatrice and to meet her regularly upstairs in her room.  Janie is suspicious of Charlotte's motives, but the hall boy, Harry Peasgood, suggests that maybe Charlotte is lonely. Janie decides to meet Charlotte, partly to befriend her and partly out of curiosity about the forbidden upstairs of The Manor.

All of this sets the stage for a tangled web of interactions between Charlotte, Janie, Harry, and Lawrence. Charlotte is infatuated with Lawrence with whom she shares a secret kiss, only to learn later he's also attempted to kiss Janie and another household maid. Harry's in love with Janie but she doesn't notice this. Charlotte and Janie's meetings are quickly discovered and ended. leaving Janie to cope with the fallout of being upstairs. When Janie is caught in the arms of Harry Peasgood she is sacked by Lady Diane.

The aristocrats gather for the hunting party which is to run from Friday to Sunday at the Manor. Lord Andrew Broadhurst, Lady Fran, Lord Buckden, Lord Ellis, and three of Charlotte's five brothers, Stephen, David, Freddie and others will be staying at the Manor. Charlotte continues to be infatuated with Lawrence, dreaming of running off with him and being a writer. However, an unexpected encounter with Lord Broadhurst on their way to the dinner, reveals his penchant for travel, making his own way and running his own business and a desire to have more out of life than parties. Charlotte considers that she may have misjudged Lord Andrew.

At the ball Charlotte learns that Janie has been sacked and impulsively she confronts her mother. Lady Diane shows her the writings which she believes are Janie's but Charlotte admits they belong to her. Furious at Charlotte's lack of decorum, her mother decides to send her to finishing school. Charlotte, angry at her mother's lack of understanding returns to the servant's ball and is found in a compromising situation with Lawrence by Fran and Lord Andrew. Realizing that she has created an enormous mistake, Charlotte flees from The Manor. Her actions set in motion the revelation of a long buried secret that will forever change both Charlotte and Janie's life.

Discussion

The Manor of Secrets is a tedious read that never quite lives up to expectations based on the novel's cover. There is no real hook to capture the reader's interest and things don't start to happen until well past the halfway point in the novel. There are plenty of small secrets at the Manor; Janie fancies Harry, Charlotte's forbidden kiss with the handsome Lawrence, Charlotte's writing and so forth. But none of these are enough to keep the story interesting and the reader wanting more.  The one interesting event, the mystery surrounding the arrival of Charlotte's Aunt Beatrice, is buried in the day to day details of manor living and the silly shenanigans of the impulsive and immature Charlotte. 

Based on a passing reference in the novel to the enormous ship being built in Belfast, likely the Titanic, this novel is set sometime between 1909 and 1911 when Titanic was launched (she did not leave dock for her trials until April 2, 1912). This would have been the end of the Edwardian period, a time when workers and women were becoming increasingly forward about obtaining rights that the wealthy enjoy. It's therefore understandable that a young person like Charlotte, seeing the old order beginning to change, would want to have more choice in her life. The idea that young, wealthy women like Charlotte might want to cook for themselves, work and travel, and choose their own husbands would still be considered at best, fanciful and even gauche. This aspect of Charlotte's character is very well developed. Her desire to live her own life leads her to create an imaginary world which she expresses through her writing. However, events soon force her to face the reality of her life and see people as they really are. This leads her to recognize Lawrence for the cad he is, willing to risk her reputation for what he considers a bit of fun and to recognize Andrew as honorable and trustworthy.'

A puzzling omission in this novel is the absence of Lord Edmond during the scandal and the revelation of Charlotte's parentage. He's only a minor character in the novel, but while Lady Diane is railing against Charlotte, ordering her off to finishing school and while Beatrice is revealing her past, Lord Edmond is nowhere to be found. As Lord of The Manor would he not have a say in what is happening in his own home? Would he not be involved in some of these decisions since they would affect the status of his family?

There are many characters in this novel and a cast of characters at the beginning might have been helpful, removing the necessity of repeating character's titles throughout the novel. For readers who especially enjoy the Edwardian period, or who have enjoyed the Dowton Abbey series, this book might be for you. 

Book Details:
Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore
New York: Point        2014
321 pp.

Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The novel opens with eighteen year old Korobi Roy's engagement to Rajat Bose. Korobi has been raised by her grandmother, Sarojini and her grandfather, Bimal Prasad Roy, of whom Korobi is very fond. Korobi's grandparents raised her after her mother Anu died during childbirth. Her father had died only months earlier in a car accident.

Korobi has always secretly desired that her mother would appear to her. Such apparitions are considered an omen of impending disaster. The night before her big engagement party, Korobi has a dream in which her mother appears to her. She cannot speak but insistently points to the ocean with the setting sun. Korobi understands that her mother wishes her to travel across the ocean to find something and when she awakes, she knows she must find out what the dream means.

Korobi has only known Rajat for a mere three months, after meeting him at a party. Rajat had just broken up with Sonia, a girl who is rich and well connected. Korobi is quite different from Sonia who leads the life of a wealthy party girl. She comes from a traditional family and has led a protected life, having been sent to a boarding school.

After the engagement ceremony, Korobi is stunned to hear her grandfather ask the Boses to agree to have Rajat and Korobi marry in three months. The Boses agree to this, but Korobi is furious with her beloved grandfather for not asking her first. They quarrel with both of them saying things they regret and Korobi leaves for the big engagement dinner. Later on that evening,  her grandfather has a heart attack and dies.

The death of Bimal causes great grief to both Sarojini and Korobi. When Korobi accuses her grandmother of not having loved Bimal, Sarojini tells her that she has never been forced to keep family secrets as she has done. She then reveals to Korobi the truth about her mother and father.

This unexpected revelation turns Korobi's world upside down because she now believes that she must go to America to find her father. She feels this is the message her mother was attempting to impart to her in her dream. But going to America will have real personal repercussions for Korobi, Rajat and his family, as well as for Sarojini.

It turns out that both families are doing poorly financially. For the Bose family, they are counting on the financial backing of an important Indian politican, Mr. Bhattacharya, for their failing art gallery in New York. When Korobi visits Rajat's mother  to explain to her why she must go to America, her future mother-in-law explains just how important Mr. Bhattacharya is to her family's failing gallery business. His constituents are very traditional, frowning on those who marry outside the Hindu faith as Korobi's mother did and now as Rajat will be doing, since Korobi is half American. Rajat's mother, Maman advises Korobi against going to America to find her father,  to marry her son quickly and then everything will blow over. They will still have the financial backing they so desperately need.

But Korobi cannot do this. This would dishonor her mother, who was so terribly wronged by her own family. She offers to break off her engagment to Rajat, which infuriates both Mrs. Bose and Rajat. However, Rajat who is struggling to establish himself in his family's business and to cope with his ex-girfriend's obsessive behaviour recognizes that this is important to Korobi. So as a compromise, he offers her one month overseas to search for her missing father, which Korobi accepts.

Korobi, with little knowledge of America and limited funds, flies to New York to begin a month long search for her long lost father. It is a search that will forever change her life. With the help of an American man of Indian descent, Vic, who is working with the private detective Korobi hired, she is is encouraged to continue when the situation is bleak. During this time both Rajat and Korobi will see their  blossoming love tested to the limit,  ties between family and friends strengthened and more family secrets uncovered.

Dvakaruni has written a coming of age novel to relish. It is rich in characters, has an interesting storyline that is filled with conflict, intrigue and romance. Korobi's search for her father is woven in a tapestry of narratives told by Korobi, Rajat, Sarojini, Mrs. Bose, and various other characters. These narratives all come together for a very satisfying ending.

Korobi is an endearing, strong character who despite many obstacles perseveres to the end. Korobi must cope with a new culture and the newly resurrected prejudices in post-9/11 America. As she learns more about her heritage, Korobi must come to terms with how this will affect her life back in India and her relationship with her friends and family. Her steadfast loyalty to Rajat, despite his secretive nature about Sonia,  helps him change his life for the better.

Rajat is an interesting character, extremely conflicted and struggling to develop his own identity within his family and their business. His inexperience leads him to make bad choices, but within himself is the desire to be a better person for Korobi and to do right by both his parents and their employees. His journey is one of maturity and self knowledge. He quickly comes to realize that he is not worthy of Korobi and seeks to become a better person.

Oleander Girl touches on the racial tensions in both American and India in the early 21st century. As mentioned, there is the prejudice against Muslims in America after the terrorist attacks of 2011 which spill over into the Indian community. Dvakaruni also mentions the riots in India between Muslims and Hindus and the racial tension in the Bose's warehouse. One can appreciate just how hard it must be to navigate between two races with such in-grained hatred towards one another.

Another strong theme in the novel is the conflict between old India with its strict caste system and customs surrounding marriage and honor and the new India struggling to modernize. This clash is seen between the Bose and Roy families and is mirrored also between Vic and Korobi in America.

Oleander Girl is a captivating read that will appeal to those who enjoy novels exploring culture and identity, with a bit of romance and suspense thrown in.

Book Details:
Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
New York: Simon & Schuster  2012
289 pp.

Jasmine Skies by Sita Brahmachari

Jasmine Skies is the sequel to Artichoke Hearts which introduced us to spunky Mira Levenson, who lives in Britain with her dad, Sam, her half Indian mother, Uma, and her twelve-year-old brother Krish and younger sister Laila. 

In Sita Brahmachari's newest novel, Mira is now fourteen-years-old and on a visit with her mother's relatives in Kolkata, India. She has come, not only to reconnect with her mother's family, but also to help out at her Aunt Anjali's children's refuge center.

Before leaving for India, Mira sees her mother looking at some old letters -- which turn out to be the correspondence between her mother and Anjali, years ago. Mira thought her mother would show her the letters but instead her mother hides the letters and tells her they are none of her business. Of course, this has the opposite effect on Mira, who steals the letters before she leaves on her trip.

Mira's mother and Anjali were very close. They shared the same birth date and frequently sent letters and postcards back and forth. In 1980 her mother went for a visit to Kolkata and something happened during that visit. The last letter was from Anjali to her mother in 1981. Mira wonders why her mother and her aunt would go from writing several times a year to nothing and hopes the letters will provide a clue.

When she arrives in Kolkata, despite feeling guilty about taking the letters, Mira reads them in the hopes of learning what happened over twenty years ago. But the letters only deepen the mystery as to why her mother lost contact with her family in India. From the letters Mira learns that when her Auntie Anjali was a young girl, she lived in a large home on Doctor's Lane in Kolkata. This home was dominated by a beautifully crafted heavy door decorated with wooden carvings of flowers. Mira feels that she must find this home and that it might hold the key to what happened years before.

Meanwhile, Mira gets to know her cousin, Priya, who is a classical Indian dancer and somewhat of a rebel. While Priya prepares to dance in a local festival, Mira is taken to various places by her Aunt Anjali including a sari shop. At the sari shop, her Auntie tries to encourage Mira to select a new sari. But when Mira chooses an old sari with its exquisite needlework over the new and colourful sari, Anjali is unsettled. Mira also meets Janu, a handsome sixteen year-old boy who was adopted by Anjali and who helps out at the children's refuge center. Mira, who has a long term friendship with a Jide, a boy back home, begins to fall for Janu. This causes Mira much conflict as she tries to sort out her relationship with Janu and figure out what her friendship with Jide back home means.

One night when Priya and Mira sneak out to a house party, which happens to be in the old abandoned home on Doctor's Lane, a terrible accident happens that brings the story to its enlightening conclusion.

Discussion

Jasmine Skies was a truly delightful story, well written, with vivid descriptions that allow the young reader to experience the culture of India in a real way.

The story is told in the voice of Mira and the author, Sita Brahmachari has captured her point of view in an very authentic manner. Mira's trip to India provides her with the opportunity to mature and is, as the author states in her note to the reader, a "rite of passage". When Mira arrives in Kolkata, she is troubled as a result of a fight she had with her mother prior to leaving London. She also feels guilty for stealing and reading her mother's letters. As time passes in Kolkata and when her aunt finds her mother's letters, Mira must face that fact that what she did was wrong. The letters were personal and private and she violated her mother's trust. She is forced to take responsibility for her actions. But Mira's actions also force her mother, Uma, and Anjali to confront their feelings about what happened years ago and to finally forgive each other.

The trip also provides Mira with the chance to explore her Indian heritage - something she really hasn't been able to do living in London, England. What Mira's grandfather has told her about her family's history, comes alive when she visits Kolkata. Understanding her past becomes an important part of developing her identity.

Through Janu, Mira comes to understand the realities of life in India; that while there are poor in England, the poor in India often have much less, sometimes not even clothes to wear. Mira's volunteering at the refugee center and her trips around Kolkata expose her to the poorest of the poor, beggars, and street children.

Hopefully Sita Brahmachari will consider writing a third book about Mira so that readers can follow this young character into adulthood. She knows her subject well and it's obvious the story is very dear to her. This book would be a wonderful read for a mother-daughter book club, providing the opportunity to discuss another life in very different culture and themes of identity and betrayal.

Book Details:
Jasmine Skies by Sita Brahmachari
London: MacMillan Children's Books 2012
336 pp.