Coromandel Sea Change

First edition, first impression. Some slight edge wear to top and bottom of jacket and spine, not price clipped (£14.99), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall a vg++ copy. 246pp. Blaise and Mary arrive at Patna Hall, a hotel on India¿s shimmering Coromandel coast, to spend part of their honeymoon. Patna Hall is as beautiful and timeless as India itself, ruled over firmly and wise by proprietor Auntie Sanni. For Mary it feels strangely like home. In a week that will change the young couple¿s destiny, election fever grips the Southern Indian state and Mary falls under the spell of the people, the country ¿ and Krishnan, godlike candidate for the Root and Flower party . . . Rumer Godden was one of Britain's most distinguished authors, with many justly famous and much-loved books for both adults and children to her credit, including Black Narcissus and The Greengage Summer . She was awarded the OBE in 1993 and died in 1998.