The Emerald Affair

The Raj Hotel, Book 1

By: Janet MacLeod Trotter

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

In this evocative tale of life in India between the wars, friendships will be tested and loyalties torn. But can love win the day?

In Scotland in the aftermath of the First World War, nurse Esmie McBride meets handsome Captain Tom Lomax at her best friend Lydia’s home. Esmie is at first concerned for Tom’s shell shock, then captivated by his charm, but it’s effervescent Lydia he marries, and the pair begin a new adventure together in India.

When marriage to Tom’s doctor friend Harold offers Esmie the chance to work in India, the two sets of newlyweds find themselves living wildly different lives on the subcontinent. Esmie, heartbroken but resolved, is nursing at a mission hospital on the North West Frontier. Lydia, meanwhile, is the glamorous mistress of the Raj Hotel, where Tom hopes his sociable new wife will dazzle international guests.

As Esmie struggles with her true feelings for Tom and the daily dangers of her work, Lydia realises the Raj is not the centre of high society she had dreamed of. And when crisis strikes both couples, Esmie faces a shattering choice: should she stay the constant friend she’s always been, or risk everything and follow her heart?

©2019 Janet MacLeod Trotter (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A beautiful love story

I have not listened to any books about India or by this reviewer. The story was beautifully written and the performance was outstanding.

Outstanding

This is a historical page turner. i could visualize every scene and character. Highly recommend!

If you've always wanted to like Jane Austin, but*

* If you've always wanted to like Jane Austin, but just don't, then you might really enjoy this book. It would have been 5 stars across the board, but for the cheapened last chapter trying to tidy up the ending, romance novel style. One more chapter about how Tom's situation in Scotland "resolved" and you'd have a full fledged novel, instead of a "romance novel". On the whole a delightful story with a wonderful narrator. Can't wait to hear the next book!

Compassion showed re the native peoples

Loved the real feel of India at that time and details of flora and fauna as well as the climate changes.

Wonderful read

I had to finish it at one go, couldn’t stop.
I wish they would make a series of the book!