The Kashmir Shawl - Softcover

Thomas, Rosie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007285965 ISBN 13: 9780007285969

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2011

Synopsis

Spanning decades and moving from the stark beauty of the Welsh landscape to the Himalayas and Kashmir, this is a story of bravery, courage and love. Within one exotic land lie the secrets of a lifetime! Newlywed Nerys Watkins leaves rural Wales for the first time in her life, to accompany her husband on a missionary posting to India. Travelling from lonely Ladakh, high up in the Himalayas, Nerys discovers a new world in the lakeside city of Srinagar. Here, in the exquisite heart of Kashmir, the British live on carved wooden houseboats and dance, flirt and gossip as if there is no war. But the battles draw ever closer, and life in Srinagar becomes less frivolous when the men are sent away to fight. Nerys is caught up in a dangerous friendship, and by the time she is reunited with her husband, the innocent Welsh bride has become a different woman. Years later, when Mair Ellis clears out her father's house, she finds an exquisite antique shawl, woven from the finest yarns and embroidered in the shades of lake water and mountain skies. Wrapped within its folds is a lock of child's hair. Tracing her grandparents' roots back to Kashmir, Mair embarks on a quest that will change her life forever.

About this title

About the Author:

Rosie Thomas is the author of a number of celebrated novels, including the bestsellers Iris and Ruby, Constance and Lovers and Newcomers. A keen traveller, she has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally and travelled the Silk Road through Asia. More recently, she has spent time in Kashmir and Ladakh, researching this novel. She lives in London.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Sorting through her parents’ possessions after their deaths, Mair Ellis discovers a Kashmir shawl that once belonged to her Welsh grandmother, Nerys Watkins. Nestled within the folds of this exquisite handwoven piece is an envelope containing a single lock of hair. Curiosity drives Mair to trace the history of the shawl, a quest that takes her from Wales to India. As she pieces together her grandmother’s past, the two women’s stories intertwine, transporting the reader between the Kashmir of WWII and the present day. The bulk of the novel belongs to Nerys, a missionary’s wife whose undemonstrative husband urges her to spend the winter in Srinigar with a friend while he spreads Christianity in remote settlements. Nerys is forever changed in this romantic city, blossoming in an illicit affair while being swept up in the dangerous unraveling of another’s. The consequences resurface nearly seven decades later, leaving Mair with a life-altering decision. An avid traveler and thorough researcher, Thomas brings the flavors and colors of India to life with vivid detail and develops characters so real one feels a kinship. An engrossing, intelligent, and satisfying read, this publication is the American debut of a UK best-seller. --Diane Holcomb

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0007285965
• ISBN 13: 9780007285969
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400