Overland from London to Kathmandu

Submitted: 16th August 2024

Overland – Yasmin Cordery Khan

Overland from London to Kathmandu – Yasmin Cordery Khan. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime: the open road, London to Kathmandu.

Map of literary locations in Overland

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : From London via India to Kathmandu

Author guide: Yasmin Cordery Khan

Genre: fiction

Food and drink to accompany: anything you can pack in a van!

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A novel to transport you from London to India

Map of literary locations in Overland

A travelogue in a book or a book disguised as a travelogue? Either way, this was fascinating. So richly evoked locations and a road trip that took my breath away.

The author is a British historian and novelist and has written books on the Great PArtition and the Raj so you know she has experience and knowledge of a lot of what she writes about. There is detail here you wouldn’t have seen if it hadn’t been through her eyes. It’s a privilege to see the journey the characters go on, as the scenery flashes by and the story unfolds.

The roadtrip overland to India is something the characters really want to do. It’s the 1970s and they are fed up with life for many different reasons. Joyce’s marriage has gone bad; Fred wants to escape from it all and Anton is simply there for the adventure.

Overland describes a route that has to be seen to be believed. Along the way, there are lots of events, surprises and hippies of course. It was interesting to meet the people they do along the way. How does someone survive and get by each day? What is the landscape like? Where to get food and water, never mind petrol. They drive from one place to the next – seemingly on a drug-fuelled, music filled experience of a life time. However, the world outside is in stark contrast – think racism, class and imperialism. Having said that, the world inside starts to get interesting – well when you get a young working class woman and two public school boys in a van, you’re going to get some differing opinions!

The journey is simply fascinating – across borders, countries, avoiding bumps in the road in more ways than one. Oh now this is a journey that I could go on! Not exactly as they do in the book, but oh my, I had to stop and remember to look out the virtual window every now and again. I loved the travel!

A roadtrip with a brilliant journey, an unexpected and thrilling destination and a cover to make this a fine literary package!