A captivating novel set in Goa. Three men and a woman return to Goa, then a Portuguese colony in India, in early 1930s, bringing change to the village of Tivolem even as the village itself impacts upon their lives. In Tivolem the four face a blend of Western and Christian values with traditional Indian mores. Although local papers and static-filled BBC broadcasts bring news of the outside world, only the intellectuals seem touched by threats of war in Europe and the Far East, and the rise of Gandhi in India. The villagers themselves focus on the new arrivals; on the richest of the four; on the retired civil servant from Kuala Lampur; on the flamboyant hunter from East Africa; and particularly on thirty-five year old Marie-Santana the most vulnerable of the four, who seeks to put her own life together. Filled with tantalizing, lush detail and gentle humor, Tivolem is an engrossing novel that transports readers to a very memorable place and time.
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