Not Yet Drown'd: A Novel - Softcover

Kingman, Peg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393333558 ISBN 13: 9780393333558

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008

Synopsis

"Mysterious, intriguing, and just downright absorbing ... smart and full of atmosphere."―Boston Globe

Catherine MacDonald is astonished to receive from her twin brother―who had apparently drowned a year earlier in the monsoon floods of 1821―a kashmiri shawl, a caddy of unusual tea, and a sheaf of traditional bagpipe music in his handwriting. When had he sent it? And why had he retitled a certain tune "Not Yet Drown'd"? Irresistibly, she is drawn to India to search for answers. With her stepdaughter and their two maids―one an enigmatic Hindu, the other a runaway American slave―she follows an obscure trail of tea, opium, and bagpipe music, discovering unsuspected truths about the man she is seeking. Reading group guide included.

About this title

About the Author:

Peg Kingman is the author of The Great Unknown, Not Yet Drown’d and Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery & Freedom. She worked for many years as a technical writer and a tea merchant. She lives in northern California.

From Publishers Weekly:

Kingman's stately debut historical stars Catherine MacDonald, a young widow in 1822 Edinburgh who is left with the care of Grace, the child from her husband's previous marriage. Just before she is unexpectedly visited by a representative of Grace's uncle, who wishes to take Grace to relatives in Virginia, Catherine receives a mysterious package from her twin brother, who reportedly drowned the previous year in India, containing tea, a fine shawl, and a sheaf of bagpipe music including a tune tantalizingly retitled "Not Yet Drown'd." Circumstances seem designed to compel Catherine to India-to protect her stepdaughter and to solve her brother's mystery-accompanied by her Indian and African maids, the latter an escaped slave. The journey has all of the era's fascination with the Orient, with a dash of the romantic, a little deceit and a central puzzle to keep things interesting. Though things move slowly, Kingman renders period detail-tea figures largely-with attentive care.
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About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0393333558
• ISBN 13: 9780393333558
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 450