Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Is Rajasthan the place for bookish Helena to find romance?
The Overnight Palace
What you need to know before your trail
Bookish Elena travels to Rajasthan India in order to seek another culture, another way of life and ultimately find herself. She is keen to explore, possibly find romance. No matter that she is in her 40s, this might be her very own ‘ Eat, Pray Love, or Shirley Valentine moment. Back home in San Francisco, life isn’t exactly going to plan.
Once in India, she buys a painting, one which will determine what kind of experience she is going to have and what impression India will have on her…
Travel Guide
India and Rajasthan in particular evoked through the chapters named after goddesses such as Saraswati and Parvati….
From this, the threads of the exploration unravel and Elena is a good companion to see the various sights and sounds of the city of Udaipur. She wishes to see an experience as much as she can, from the busy markets to the chaotic streets, even going so far as to leave her ashram and the friend she is with, in order to explore on her own.
The painting she buys in a street market is full of what she wishes to remember from her time in India – it is full of colour and Indian spirit, and the loss of the painting later on takes her on the next part of her Indian adventure – that of love, with a much younger man as well.
With Sahil, a local man, Elena has more insight and a deeper experience of the local colour and culture. Their relationship allows her to see and live a lot more than a tourist would as seeing events and sights through a local’s eyes, coloured with passion, makes for a vibrant palate of emotions. Even the darker parts of the city are chanced upon giving the city a full and mysterious feel.
It’s whether the path she takes is going to lead to that of enlightenment or not. The Indian culture proves to be more of a change that she first thought and so going out with an Indian man proves to be as problematic as it is exciting, never mind the age.
There is a lot for a Western woman to explore here – from the sun-baked streets of Rajasthan, to the more spiritual places such as the many palaces and temples.
Where Next?
