Review: Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft

Meet Me in Bombay by Jenny Ashcroft

Blurb from Goodreads:

It's New Year's Eve in Bombay, 1913, and Madeline Bright, new to the sweltering heat of colonial India, is yearning for all she has left behind in England. Then, at the stroke of midnight, Maddy meets Luke Devereaux, and as the year changes so do both their lives.

Bold and charismatic, Luke opens her eyes to the wonders of Bombay, while Maddy's beauty and vivacity captures his heart. Only her mother disapproves, preferring the devoted Guy Bowen as a match for her daughter.

But while Maddy and Luke are falling in love, the world is falling apart. World War I is on the horizon, and Luke will be given no choice but to fight. They will be continents apart, separated by danger and devastating loss, but bound by Luke's promise that they will meet again in Bombay. His only wish is to return to her--but first he must remember who she is . . . 

My Review:
 

I am always hesitant to start historical fiction but I usually end up loving it more than I anticipated.  This book is no exception and it was a beautiful, sad, and romantic start to the year.  I had not before read a book set in India immediately before, during and after World War I but the scene was beautiful and heart-breaking all at once.  I loved this story and the characters and I had to know how it ended. . . definitely recommend this one!

Meet Me In Bombay comes out next week on January 19, 2021, and you can purchase HERE.  If you want a heart wrenching historical fiction that is also so romantic, this book is for you!

Today, after morning tea, I fell asleep quite suddenly.  It happens like that. I never fight it. My dreams are all I have left of that other world: the one I'm sure I once belonged to. It was full of heat, light and color; so much life. There was a party, on the banks of a sea. Nothing like the tame affairs we hold here—no finger sandwiches, diluted cordial, and crackers that don't make bangs. It was loud, packed with people; the music of a ragtime band.