The Satapur Moonstone: complex women that are more than what tradition demands of them

What is this about?

Perveen Mistry is asked to go to the small state of Satapur to determine how the surviving crown prince, and next in line to the throne, should be educated. Essentially, she is to listen to what his mother wants, and what his grandmother wants and decide what is best for the Prince. However, there is so much more going on – for instance, how is it that so many men in the royal line have recently died?

What else is this about?

This is again a marvellous case that takes us to 1922 India, and a modern woman navigating her way in this world. Perveen is an interesting character because she is so modern in some ways and in others she isn’t. That balance and dynamic makes for a complex woman.

Blurb

The highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed novel The Widows of Malabar Hill.

India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen and her daughter-in-law.

The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?

 

Perveen Mistry is asked to do the impossible it seems in The Satapur Moonstone: negotiate a peace and an outcome that will satisfy the mother and grandmother of the young crown prince of Satapur.

How did this come to happen?

It turns out that the Satapur royal family has had two very unexpected deaths in their family recently – the maharaja, who ruled Satapur and the next in line to the throne after him, his teenage son who perished in a hunting accident.

So the young crown prince, who prefers flying kites and can’t sit still for lessons is the next in line for the throne. His grandmother wants him to continue to be educated in India, but his mother wants him educated in England, far away from the danger that claimed his father and brother’s lives … and that is what Perveen walks into when she is asked to find a middle ground between two very determined women who are convinced they know best for the prince.

Perveen is as ever a modern woman, in a decidedly not-modern world. She travels to Satapur, meeting the agent of the British Raj, Colin along the way to learn more about the Royal Family. There she meets a variety of guests, and learns more about Satapur, which is is such a smooth learning experience for her and us about the world she is about to step into.

The clash of modern and traditional views proves to be such an enjoyable read as it was in A Murder at Malabar Hill. Perveen has already rebelled at what society expects of her, yet in other ways, she is decidedly traditional – especially with Colin, with whom she shares an attraction, though she her previous marriage, her abuse and the resulting way she is stuck makes her want to run the other way. That simmering attraction as they try to control themselves makes for some interesting potential in future instalments (I hope!)

But back to the case!

Satapur is almost an enclosed place, away from the realities of the world we learned about in the first book. Perveen finds herself caught inbetween two domineering women who think they know best for the crown prince. The women are still wrapped in their own grief, and their own suspicions and make things difficult for Perveen who is trying to do right by the prince, without offending the women who can get her thrown out of the palace before her work is done. Like A Murder at Malabar Hill, Perveen is just one woman in cast of women that are dynamic and complex in a very traditional world, and in very different ways. The plot to get Perveen here reminds me a lot of the first instalment, but there the similarities end.

Perveen’s stay in the palace illuminates some interesting aspects of life at the palace and the machinations that are happening behind the scenes. Massey brings this era in India to life in gorgeous descriptions, and I adored that she set this story in a remote state, away from the bustle of India.

The conclusion of this mystery is as exciting and satisfying as I expected, and I for one cannot wait to see what’s next for Bombay’s only female lawyer!