A Beggar at the Gate

I lost track of Thalassa Ali after reading the first book in this series, so I was surprised to find that two more were finished. Although perhaps more of the romance novel than the first book, the second is a satisfying sequel. It continues to provide interesting detail about the time and place, the customs, beliefs, and prejudices while delivering an interesting plot and an engaging, if flawed, heroine. Having just finished this book, I can't wait to plunge into the next one.

This was one of the most entertaining books I've read in a while. If you love Indian or Hindu culture, you will love this book. Ali provides a unique look at this culture from the European perspective, at first judgemental, later accepting, and finally, by the end, you fall in love with the beauty of India. Her characters are 3 dimensional and well rounded. I highly recommend this book!

By the time you get to this sequel of A SINGULAR HOSTAGE, you'll probably be as desperate as I was to find out what happens to the adventurous Mariana, her new husband Hassan (the marriage has yet to be consummated), her spiritually gifted stepson Saboor, and the other fascinating characters in this tale of Victorian India. I found it very hard to put the book down. I adore the love story -- how delicately it grows out of almost teasingly brief encounters between two people culturally primed to misunderstand each other. I also love the way this trilogy takes you into a different world -- actually, many different worlds -- with part of the delight being the ironic juxtaposition of conflicting world views. I'm not usually one for mystic plot turns, which do occur regularly in this trilogy, but Ali makes them work well, and along the way you gain an intriguing and sympathetic glimpse into Sufism and the history of what today is Pakistan. My only complaint is that the final book in the trilogy isn't out yet. I can't wait to read it!

But WHY does it HAVE to be a trilogy? WHY couldn't it have been a big thick juicy blockbuster? This parceling out of the story in parsimonious portions is driving me BANANAS! I waited for over two years for the rest of the story and now I find out that I get just the middle and have to wait another YEAR for the end. Oh dear.

In 1838 India, Englishwoman Mariana Givens arrives to find herself a suitable husband amongst the British military. Many officers want her, but instead she falls in love with a native baby Saboor whose mother died from poison.. During her quest to return the allegedly mystical infant to his father, Mariana falls in love and marries Hassan Ali Khan over the objections of both their societies. Two years later Mariana realizes she has no place in the Indian world and remains the pariah of English society. She knows it is time to return to Lahore where her spouse lives and do two acts that will destroy her soul. She must return her beloved Saboor so that he can obtain his rightful place as a person supposedly gifted with magical abilities and she must obtain a divorce from Hassan. A heartbroken Mariana must say goodbye to the two native males that she loves for the sake of peace between two cultures on the verge of deadly conflict. The sequel to SINGULAR HOSTAGE, A BEGGAR AT THE GATE is a terrific insightful historical tale with a touch of romanticism that brings to live mid eighteenth century India. The story line moves rather quickly yet not only has full blooded key characters, but also provides a deep window into two peoples at a point of major strife seemingly ready to turn deadly. Still the center of the novel is Mariana and her relationships with the two males she loves and with Indian and English societies. Readers will beg for more sequels especially what happens to the fascinating Saboor as an adult. Harriet Klausner