The Veil of Illusion

The Veil of Illusion begins about 13 years after the Sepoy Rebellion and the massacre at Bibighar when Jai Raventhorne was accused of participating in and presumably hanged (or was he?) for his crimes. Olivia mourns her beloved Jai and she has struggled over the years to prove his innocence. Their children Amos and Maya bear the burdens of mixed parentage and stigma of their father's alleged heinous activities. Maya meets and falls in love with a high born Englishman, Christian Pendlebury, much to the chagrin of his parents newly arrived from England. Also involved in Maya and Amos' life is the mysterious Eurasian Kyle Hawkesworth who prints a local paper and also has a very hidden agenda (and a BIG secret) in respects to Christian's father Lord Jasper. This is a story that is very difficult to put into words, and is very different from Olivia and Jai. There are no star crossed lovers that keep you turning the page well into the night waiting for the next surprise, the first half of the book is actually taken up with setting up the story and providing the flash backs into what happened prior to the Mutiny. What this book is about is the plight of the Eurasians in colonial India, whether they are poor and base born or independently wealthy as the Raventhorne's are. Not accepted by either the British community or the Indians, theirs is a life lived in constant shadow and insecurity. The author uses several interesting methods with her characters to keep this theme at the forefront of her story, from Olivia's support of a home for women, to Amos and Kyle's interest in setting up a school for the lesser born Eurasian children, Christopher's idealistic dreams of what he can accomplish during his public service in India, and the most heartbreaking of all when Maya is rejected by a member of an Indian family she's known since childhood. As stated earlier, this is not a romance with star crossed lovers and a HEA ending for all, and if that's what you are expecting I recommend you stop and just savor the ending from Olivia and Jai and keep that in your memories forever. However, if like me you need to read the rest of the story and enjoy a novel heavy on the history and setting of 19C India and the British Raj along with an eye opening look at the prejudices of the time against the Eurasian population it's well worth your time searching this one out. Ryman was born and raised in India and her knowledge and love of the culture shine through making for a well written and well rounded journey to another place and time, and isn't that what historical fiction is all about? Four stars.

I respect to the utmost the freedom of choice of a writer to write whatever he/she wants, but in this case I do wish the editor/publisher had stepped in and attempted to dissuade Ms Ryman from publishing this story as it stands. And I wish I had been given some warning about the plot before I read this sequel to Olivia and Jai. Olivia and Jai itself is up there with Far Pavilions as an epic story of love set against the 19th century British Raj. However, with this sequel Ms Ryman decides to deviate from romance, to the point of, as another reviewer here has pointed out, "having the guts to kill off a major character". If you are looking for romance and a continuation of the HEA of Olivia and Jai, I do not recommend this sequel. All your illusions will be shattered. In this case I wish Ms Ryman had preserved "the veil of illusion" for us romantically minded readers.My four star rating is for the high level of historical writing, plotting and characterization that Ryman always exhibits. Along with an exploration of the Eurasian community in 19th British India, in reality the focus of this novel.This is one book which I feel is flawed as it stands as a romance but is brilliant historical fiction. However, I like happy endings in my historic fiction. If a major character could be resurrected, another secondary character's marriage to a native given a more romantic aspect and happier ending, and more attention and resolution given to the romances of Jai's children I would be ecstatic. For romance readers, I recommend Olivia and Jai as a stand alone and also Ryman's novel Shalimar. I recommend this sequel to lovers of historical fiction set in India who don't mind crying buckets. Great portrayal of North India from time of the Mutiny to 1870s.

This book is just as good as Olivia and Jai. I loved every minute of it and I did not want it to end. I hope there will be another book about the Raventhornes soon.

No true romance, but desasters and hate dominate this story. But we fall in love with the children: Amos and Maya, as well as with Alistair...What happend to Maya and Kyle?

Written with the same evocative richness as Olivia and Jai, this sequel does not disappoint. Presents an interesting alternative scenario within the much literated Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and the continuing saga of a family living in a social no-man's-land. Ryman has a clear, arresting style and an absorbing story. I'd read a grocery list if this woman wrote it, but hope instead to see another installment of the Raventhorne chronicles soon.