A Sahib's Daughter (36 page)

But Ramona’s interest in the Sahib had been fleeting. She was absorbed in the card her mother had given her. She continued to study it while her father walked out of the room and out of her life forever.

Too late, too late, the words reverberated in Prava’s mind as she watched him leave. The question of how to react was too suddenly thrust upon her, the implications of revealing the truth too daunting to contemplate. So once again he left them, mother and daughter, fated to be deprived of the love that came so close within his grasp.

The secret Prava had guarded for so long was safe. The secret that had sheltered her daughter from the stigma of her mixed birth would now remain forever in the innermost shadows of her heart and no one would ever know that Ramona was a Sahib’s daughter.

THE END

“A well-written romance set in the years after India won independence from Great Britain. The heroine, Samira is totally believable. She is beautiful and educated and her story plays out well against the prejudices of both Indian natives and the English and Scottish expatriates who manage India’s thriving tea plantations. Samira’s parents, Charles and Ramona, their friends, her brother Mark, her loves Ravi and Justin, and all major and minor characters are true to the times in which this story is set. The plot runs believably, with the twists and turns that are expected in a romance novel. Readers will have no trouble putting “A Sahib’s Daughter” on their reading list.”

- Alice D. for “Readers Favorite” Rating: 5 stars

“A well written story in the historical romance genre, set in the last years of the British Raj rule of India, with just enough history to be interesting and even pique the reader’s curiosity about earlier events that led up to the story now being told. The author has clearly had first-hand experience of the leisured life of Anglo-Indians in India.”

- Peter Newton (retired tea planter)

“
Two generations of British, Indian and mixed-heritage ladies and gentlemen find love and purpose in this story. The author gives us a look at the relatively closed society of expatriate Brits on rural tea plantations, and also the gradually increasing involvement of the Indians who work for and then with them after India gained its freedom. I came to care for most of the characters, each of whom is treated sensitively by the author. The contrast between life in India, surrounded by servants and life back home in lower middle class families for the more junior British managers of the tea plantations was interesting and well developed: an engaging post-colonial look at Brits in backcountry India.

The book had plenty of tension and a satisfying ending. The cultural contrasts were obvious throughout but not the main focus of the work. I look forward to reading more works by the author.

- Joseph Ellebracht

“The author skillfully captures the sights, sounds, and smells of India. She has an uncanny ability of bringing her characters to life as she weaves the story of life on the tea farms and the privileged white society. It was full of suspense, intrigue, and romance and I could barely put the book aside until I finished this amazing story.”

- Barbara Miller, Author of “You Lost Your Marriage, Not your life” and “Dancing in Rhythm with the Universe.”

“A very worthwhile read. You are transported to an ancient country that has fascinating customs...”

- Jean Brickell, Readers Favorite. Rating: 5.0 stars

“Nice Read! Passages about Yeats in Sligo…” Under bare Ben Bulben’s head.... “brought back fond memories of Ireland, Newry...and the lush, salmon river valleys.”

       
- John Gillis, Syndicated Columnist, Washington, D.C., Author, Aspen Publishers, Inc.

About the Author

Nina Harkness draws on childhood memories of growing up in the privileged post-colonial traditions of India’s tea plantation society to create the story of “A Sahib’s Daughter,” her first novel.

She left the Himalayan region to pursue a career in public relations and journalism in London and Northern Ireland, working as a freelance magazine contributor to “Northern Woman,” “Ulster Tatler” and “Northern Ireland Homes Interiors & Living”.

She married an Irishman and raised their two children, Andrew and Laura in Northern Ireland before the family moved to Florida in the late nineties.

She now lives in Naples, Florida where she is writing her second novel “Marry My Daughters.”