The story unfolds in a gentle and well-paced manner. However, this is a minor quibble and close attention in the early stages of the book will easily avoid any confusion. For example, the prince is variously known as the maharaja, Prince Jiva Rao or simply Prince, and sometimes simply Jiva Rao. It is though, just a little confusing on occasions when the royal family’s titles, formal names and family names are used interchangeably. To add verisimilitude, there are a number of Indian words and expressions used – and helpfully, a glossary is provided at the end of the book. This is done very well and the novel offers genuine insight into life in purdah and the strictures on all palace inhabitants and their interactions with each other. Nothing comes of it but, as this book is only the second in a planned series, perhaps there will be further opportunities at another time.īut the heart of the novel is the deconstruction of the relationships within the palace – between the prince’s mother and his grandmother, between the attendants who are as factionalised as any political party – and between the Indian people and their English rulers. On one occasion, she inadvertently comes across him exercising and instead of leaving as she should have, ‘she stayed because she wanted to fill her eyes with the sight of Colin’. However, her awareness of propriety does not preclude her from being attracted to Colin. Perveen travels alone but must be conscious of her social obligations in terms of contact with males – especially English males. Perveen is married and estranged from her husband but cannot obtain a divorce as the abuse she suffered was not sufficiently serious. Consequently, Perveen is asked to intervene. As this is the time when Indian women of class live their lives in purdah and are not able have contact with men outside their families, no male could be called in to resolve the palace conflict. Perveen Mistry is working with her father in his law firm in Bombay. The fictitious kingdom of Satapur is located in the Sahyadri Mountains southeast of Bombay and, as the crown prince is not yet of age, is ruled by an English agent Colin Sandringham. Set in 1922 in the time of the British Raj, the novel not only tells the story of how Perveen Mistry resolves the issue – and uncovers and solves a conspiracy for murder as well – but offers an intriguing glimpse into life for Indian women in the 1920s. His mother and grandmother are in conflict over his education – palace tutoring or a public school in England? The prince’s father and older brother have died in mysterious circumstances leaving the ten-year-old prince as the heir to the crown. Perveen Mistry is a lawyer – in fact, she is the first and so far the only female lawyer in Bombay – and in The Satapur Moonstone she is called on to resolve a dispute over the education of a young crown prince.
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