Jenny Ashcroft

United by love. Separated by war. Will they find their way back to each other? Find out in Jenny Ashcroft's historical romance Meet Me in Bombay...

Meet Me in Bombay

Kayla 

So many thoughts, so little space.

Okay so I looked up some other reviews about this one and I have some issues. A lot of reviewers (not sure what background they came from) kept using the word ‘exotic’ to describe the setting, India, which made me cringe. Secondly they said they felt like they were in India and experiencing the country. Okay let’s clear that up. This book is set in a colonized India and we see how white people lived in India. We literally see nothing about actual India except for these gems: naked men in the river, men in the market being agressive sellers, men as servants in the house.

So I went into this book knowing what kind of India I would be experiencing...others chose not to do their homework. It’s a romance set in British colonized India between two British people that are only affected by European issues like WWI. It is not exotic and honestly it didn’t need to even be set in India, this could have easily been set in London.

I gave it 3 stars. I was interested in the romance and the time period (WWI is my favourite period to read about). I liked the dual timeline and the process of uncovering the mystery.

What I wasn’t into was the writing style. It was awkward and confusing for me to read. The dialogue seemed to just be interjected into a narrative story rather than a part of it. Sometimes it was in quotations, other times italics and it was also in parentheses. I was at times unsure if the words were spoken or just thoughts.

The whole drama with the mom I found unnecessary. I felt like there was nothing else the author could think of so she made this dramatic mystery that wasn’t actually dramatic.

I did originally receive this as an e-arc but ended up getting it from the library as well. Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley.

erin s

Jenny Ashcroft's Meet Me in Bombay is a frustratingly immersive love story. Young Maddy Bright has just moved from England back to her childhood home in colonial Bombay, where her father is stationed. Struggling to re-adjust to India, a chance encounter on New Year's 1914 with a soldier named Luke Devereaux draws the two together. He sends her an annotated guidebook, and she sets out across the region seeking out his suggestions first alone and then side-by-side. They fall instantly in love, only to be torn apart by the start of WWI and his summoning to the front. 

Meanwhile, a man with amnesia so severe that he has forgotten his own name checks into a hospital for wounded soldiers in France. We know he is Luke, and that Maddy is back in Bombay waiting for him, but he has no memories besides the vague vision of a woman that appears only in his dreams. This part is agonizing to read; both main characters are separated by grief, war, and loneliness, unaware that the other is looking for them. 

Ashcroft's writing is engaging, her rendition of colonial India evocative. All I wanted was for Maddy and Luke to be reunited, to rediscover the happiness that they first found on the first day of 1914. Ultimately, their story provides a mere glimpse into the immense loss felt throughout the world during WWI. 

[4/5: The torturous dramatic irony drove me slightly up a wall. I did enjoy it, though, once I reached the end. A read-alike I instantly think of is Atonement -- fans of the novel/film will almost certainly enjoy this book, along with readers who seek out star-crossed love stories.]

Many thanks for the ARC to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy (of the impending U.S. edition) in exchange for an honest review!

Meet Me in Bombay

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