Far away from post World War II London, Sophie Schofield, 18, finds herself at the magnificent palace of a Maharaja, where her Father is posted as a Physician. Sophie’s life is changed forever when she meets Jag, the son of a palace servant in the hidden corridors of the palace. Their secret friendship turns into forbidden love, which is as intense as it is heartbreaking. Being on opposite sides of the social spectrum, Sophie and Jag’s love is doomed, their lives are never meant to be joined by love. As the young lovers are torn apart, we are then transported to Sophie ten years later, engaged to a British diplomat, as she is given an opportunity to travel with her fiancé, Lucien, back to India. Returning to India reignites powerful emotions and memories for Sophie of her the painful loss of her first love. Sophie must decide if she can bury the past for good or reconnect with her painful memories. An emotionally stirring story, Under a jewelled sky is told in a split style narrative. It moves in time from 1948, 1958 and 1970 through to place from India to England and finally California. The author balanced this well, as it did not distract from the emotional depth of the story at all. The setting of this story is wonderful. The backdrop is primarily set in the exotic and lush tropical world of India. The reader is treated to rich descriptions of landscape and culture. As a reader, this book certainly opened my eyes to the political turmoil engulfing India in post World War II and the polarising experiences of the rich versus the poor. The author is skilled at creating a dichotomy between the opulent lifestyles of the palaces of the Maharaja to the squalid slums of the refugee camps and the cramped lifestyles of the city dwellers in India. In terms of characters, I found Sophie, the main character, to be very well developed. She makes an interesting journey from the naive but adventurous teenage girl in the earlier parts of the book to a determined strong woman flawed by heartbreak in the latter parts. The minor characters were realistic and the author does a good job of drawing the reader into their world. However, I did find the moments between Jag and Sophie too minor and as I am a fan of forbidden love, this part was not explored as much as I would have preferred. A few twists are thrown in before a surprising but authentic ending, Under a jewelled sky is perfect for those who enjoy historical novels with a rich sense of time and place. Are you ready? Today it is time for another great new book. Today's book is another wonderful find at the library. I was lucky to have obtained this one from NetGalley also. I didn't realize I already had it! LOL. This book was published in January 21 of 2014. It is a beautiful story of forbidden love set in a magical palace of a maharaja.This book is a real gem. You should read it!!Sophie is becoming a woman. She is the apple of her father's eye and the object of her mother's wrath. She is bored with her life in the palace of the maharaja until she meets Jag. Jag is a young servant boy that she falls in love with. He opens up a whole new world to her of love and the sights and sounds of the palace. Sophie soon finds herself the victim of her forbidden affair. Her whole life is turned topsy-turvy. Little does she realize that this one event will affect the rest of her life.This is another book that travels back and forth in time, but Alison does a wonderful job weaving everything together. We see how the past has an effect on Sophie's future. I liked that this story has a happy ending, but that it wasn't what I thought would happen. I felt that this book was very well written with really well-developed characters. Be aware that this is mostly a romance story, there is a little about partition and british colonialism, but not much. If you are reading it for the political history you will probably be disappointed. I thought that it gave a wonderful sense of what it would be like to be in India. If this sounds interesting to you at all, you should give this one a try!! I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Can you tell I loved it?
What do You think about Under The Jeweled Sky (2014)?
Epic tragic love story set mostly in the lush and extravagant maharaja's palace. So good.
—tardisblue07
Now this is a love story!Full review to come.
—Tiffie
