THE TEMPLE DANCER

Author: John Speed ISBN: 0312325487 9/2006 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Time Period: 17th Century India

India, 1657. When Maya, a graceful, young temple dancer with a mysterious past, is sold into slavery, she enters a world of intrigue, violence, and forbidden love. Bought by a Portuguese trader and sold as a concubine to the dissolute vizier of Bijapur, she embarks on a treacherous journey. In a caravan led by the dangerous settlement man Da Gama, she travels by elephant on the hostile road to Bijapur, joined by Geraldo, a Portuguese adventurer, and Pathan, a handsome prince who carries a dark secret. Together with Lucinda, a beautiful, spoiled young Goan heiress, and the manipulative eunuch Slipper, they climb the windswept mountain road through the Western Ghats. When their caravan is attacked by bandits, the travelers’ lives are turned upside down. In the aftermath, Maya and Lucinda suddenly find themselves stranded in a strange, exotic world, a world filled with passion, romance, and deception, pure love and lurking evil, where nothing is as it seems and the two women are faced with great temptation as well as heart-wrenching decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE TEMPLE DANCER, by John Speed, is an easy Top Pick. The lavishly depicted backdrops and lush exotic settings easily transport the reader into another time and place. The vividly drawn characters will both captivate and fascinate—you can't help but be drawn into their world, their lives, their "tent in the caravan of this life" as it is said. Whether it's the sinister Slipper or roguish Geraldo, each one has their own story to tell and will make you want to listen.

But perhaps one of the most important reasons to recommend THE TEMPLE DANCER is the author's gift of storytelling. Truly, you will find it hard to believe that this is a debut book because it's so well written and quick paced. Opulent, rich, sometimes even decadent, Speed proves himself capable of mixing passion, adventure and love as well as any seasoned author who writes this genre.

The short synopsis above says everything you need to know about the basic storyline of THE TEMPLE DANCER. But what it doesn't tell you is how much intrigue and double-dealing goes on in this story, and how it affects each character's individual end-of-story moment. Deals are made both above and below the table, speaking from one side of the mouth while at the same time saying something different from the other. One never knows where one quite stands in the overall scheme of things. Who is your enemy and who is your friend? Just how thick is the blood of kinship between family and friend? And what does all of this have to do with the Temple Dancer, as a woman, a slave and the material things she possesses?

Fast-paced with constantly unfolding events and non-stop action, the reader barely has time to breathe as robbers and bandits, longhaired swordsman, evil eunuchs and lusty brigands stand ready to confront them at every turn. As for romance, there's a forbidden love pairing as well as more than one love unrequited, into all of which castes, religious backgrounds and greed play very important parts.

On a personal level, and the final reason I strongly recommend THE TEMPLE DANCER, is for its ending. While all the women in this book may seem to meekly accept their fates, it is they, in the end, that rule the day. For it is a woman who wisely decides on another's fate by pitting man against man; it is a woman who chooses to give up her freedom and fortune for a love that should not be, and a woman that repays a greedy man she once loved with his fair due. What better sort of ending to a historical fiction story could you ask for?

THE TEMPLE DANCER is one exotic adventure you really shouldn't miss.

Nancy Davis