Introduction

From incredible storyteller and national bestseller Elle Newmark comes a sweeping novel that brings to life two love stories, set ninety years apart against the rich backdrop of war-torn India.

In 1947, Evie Mitchell is living in India with her emotionally distant husband and young son amidst the violence surrounding the end of British rule. When Evie discovers a packet of old letters written by two young Englishwomen who lived in the same house in 1857, she embarks on a mission to uncover their stories, leading her through the bazaars and temples of a British hill station and beyond. As the country fights for independence, Evie struggles to save her strained marriage while piecing together her Victorian ghosts, searching for answers.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1

1947

Our train hurtled past a gold-spangled woman in a mango sari, regal even as she sat in the dirt, patting cow dung into disks for cooking fuel. A sweep of black hair
obscured her face and she did not look up as the passing train shook the ground under her bare feet. We barreled past one crumbling, sun-scorched village after another, and the farther we got from Delhi the more animals we saw trudging alongside the endless swarm of people—arrogant camels, humpbacked cows, bullock-drawn carts, goats and monkeys, and suicidal dogs. The people walked slowly, balancing vessels on their heads and bundles on their backs, and I stared like a rude tourist, vaguely ashamed of my rubbernecking—they were just ordinary people, going about their lives, and I sure as hell wouldn’t like someone staring at me, at home in Chicago, as if I were some bizarre creature on exhibit—but I couldn’t look away. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions from the Publisher:

1. THE SANDALWOOD TREE takes place in a very interesting place, India, at two fascinating time periods in the country’s history—the Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 and Britain’s withdrawal from control in1947. What made you choose this setting and these moments in time? What research did you do in writing the novel?
2. What draws you to the genre of historical fiction? Does the mixture of history and storytelling pose a challenge? Do you enjoy reading historical novels in addition to writing them?
3. The Victorian era mysteries surrounding Adela Winfield and Felicity Chadwick are unveiled through a series of letters Evie Mitchell uncovers almost a century later while living in the same home in India with her husband and young son. How were these women’s lives different? What challenges did they share in common? Did you prefer writing one storyline or set of characters to the other?
4. One of the major themes of THE SANDALWOOD TREE is the resilience of the Indian people. When Evie first arrives in India, she says “I wanted to… ferret out the mystery of [India’s] people. I wanted to know how India managed to hang on to her identity in spite of multitudes of foreign conquerors slogging through with new gods and new rules.” Do you think this ability to “bend without breaking” is universal to human nature or unique to the Indian people? Something developed over time out of necessity?
5. The British characters often mock the Indians’ superstitions throughout the novel. Is Evie’s need for order a superstition in itself? Do you think there’s a difference between her need for order and the natives’ need for their rituals? Are they driven by the same impulses and desires?
6. Felicity and Adela live in a time where a woman had very few choices, and society had very specific expectations of them. In spite of these, they manage to carve out nontraditional lives, vowing to “scrap the rules and live a life of joy, no matter what the price.” What do you think makes them different from the other women of the era, able to make these choices? Do you think the price they paid for those choices was too high?
7. Throughout THE SANDALWOOD TREE there is a huge dichotomy between the rich foreigners, with their servants and extravagance, and the abject poverty of so many of the natives. Did this disparity bother you? Do you think it’s inevitable that there be such a difference between classes?
8. Both your first novel, The Book of Unholy Mischief, and THE SANDALWOOD TREE combine your love of food and travel. Tell us about these pastimes and the trips and adventures you may be planning for your next novel.

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»	Publisher's Book Info
»	About Author Ellen Newmark

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