Author Sujata Massey to appear at Browseabout Books July 28
Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach will host author Sujata Massey from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday, July 28, to sign copies of her latest novel, “The Mistress of Bhatia House.”
In 1922 India, Perveen Mistry is the only female lawyer in Bombay, a city where child mortality is high, birth control is unavailable and very few women have ever seen a doctor.
Perveen is attending a lavish fundraiser for a new women’s hospital specializing in maternal health issues when she witnesses an accident. The grandson of an influential Gujarati businessman catches fire, but a servant, his young ayah Sunanda, rushes to save him, selflessly putting herself in harm’s way. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who’s still ailing from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges brought by a man who doesn’t seem to exist.
Perveen cannot stand by while the girl languishes in jail with no hope of justice. She takes Sunanda as a client, even inviting her to live at the Mistry home in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi colony. But the joint family household is already full of tension. Perveen’s father worries about their law firm taking so much personal responsibility for a client, and her brother and sister-in-law are struggling to cope with their new baby. Perveen herself is going through personal turmoil as she navigates a taboo relationship with a handsome former civil service officer.
When the hospital’s chief donor dies suddenly, Miriam Penkar, a Jewish-Indian obstetrician, and Sunanda become suspects. Perveen’s original case spirals into a complex investigation taking her into the Gujarati strongholds of Kalbadevi and Ghatkopar, and up the coast to Juhu Beach, where a decadent nawab lives with his Australian trophy wife. Then a second fire erupts, and Perveen realizes how much is at stake. Has someone powerful framed Sunanda to cover up another crime? Will Perveen be able to prove Sunanda’s innocence without endangering her own family?
Massey is the author of 14 novels, two novellas and numerous short stories that have been published in 18 countries. She writes mystery and suspense fiction set in pre-independence India, as well as a modern mystery series set in Japan.
Born in England to parents from India and Germany, Massey was raised primarily in St. Paul, Minn., although Baltimore has been her home for almost 30 years. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University and wrote features for the Baltimore Evening Sun newspaper before becoming a novelist.
This is a free event and tickets are not required. For details, go to browseaboutbooks.com.
