The Sapphire Child is the second in a series, but can be read on its own too. It’s an historical romance set mostly in India during the 1930s and 1940s. It is a long book at 532 pages, or 13.5 hours in the unabridged audiobook performed pluckily by Elizabeth Knowelden. British author Janet MacLeod Trotter has written many such novels based in India or the UK. This one has a busy, somewhat predictable plot with well-crafted characters. 

The two main characters are Andrew Lomax and Stella DuBois, who we meet first when they are teenagers. Their two families are in different situations. The story is about their love, which may never be allowed to flower. It’s also a story of social conventions, family honor and secrets. These all work against the fulfillment of love: only the disreputable characters get to act on their deepest desires. Eventually the Second World War starts and soon comes to India, providing Andrew the chance to sign up and put himself in danger. There is plenty of tragedy.

The Sapphire Child is an enjoyable work giving a blandly positive portrait of the Raj. We get no sign of the struggle for independence of the Indian population. There’s no sense of the exploitation of local people for the benefit of British Empire. We do get some sense of the crisis of masculinity and femininity as people try to live up to absurd ideals in a changing world, and the pressures that push society to change them, which might be the most interesting aspect of the novel. 

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews

Categories: Fiction

Keywords: Fiction