This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Lisa M. Schlegel for Readers' Favorite
Kurinji Flowers by Clare Flynn follows the unfortunate life of a middle class Englishwoman, Ginny Dunbar. Immediately after her father's death, young Ginny is sexually exploited by Rupert, a painter and family friend. Due to the older man's vindictive and callous actions, Ginny's reputation and prospects for marriage are ruined. Her stoic and socially rigid mother facilitates Ginny's marriage to a man unaware of her shame, which leads to a life on a tea plantation in India. Ginny is naive, but intelligent. She bumps up against all the constraints upon women in that era, against some of which she rebels, and some to which she succumbs. But a loveless, childless marriage makes for a lonely and vulnerable heart, and Ginny finds love and friendship outside the shallow world of the English colonists.
The era is fascinating, from 1936 through WWII, during the reign of King George VI, who was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth. Kurinji Flowers touches on many of the social and political issues, including the fading of an empire, the rights of indigenous people, and the damage that prejudice and self-righteousness can inflict on humanity. Heady stuff, indeed. I found the characters were vivid, and the story quite compelling. I'm reminded of Doris Lessing's Martha Quest in her Children of Violence series. The imprint of the European empires continues to this day. On a positive note, one finds the hero/heroine in books are most often opposed to oppression. Clare Flynn gave her protagonist the courage to question social norms and become a heroine within, despite her constraints.
