Publisher Description

From Ann Bennett, bestselling author of The Orphan House, comes The Lake Pavilion, a sweeping historical novel; the story of two women connected by devastating secrets from wartime England and British India of the 1930s.Perfect for fans of Dinah Jeffries, Victoria Hislop and The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas.
India 1935: Amelia Collins, a missionary's daughter, left destitute by the death of her parents, leaves their home in the Himalayan foothills to find work in Darjeeling. There she meets District Officer Reginald Holden, a powerful older man, who spirits her away from poverty and prejudice to start a new life as his wife in Ganpur.Amelia soon forms a bond with Reginald's young son, Arthur, and resumes missionary work in the villages around Ganpur. There, she discovers a pavilion on a lake where the wives of maharajahs once bathed, now abandoned and cloaked in mystery.When the Indian independence movement flares in Ganpur and Reginald struggles to contain it, Amelia's world begins to fall apart as she uncovers the shattering truths he has been keeping from her.Decades later, when Kate Hamilton inherits a rambling country house from her great aunt Amelia, she returns to the village in Buckinghamshire that she left as a teenager in 1944. Sorting through long-hidden papers, she begins to unearth Amelia's secrets from her years in British India.But Kate is harbouring a secret of her own - a devastating betrayal from that last summer of the war. She has lived in the shadow of that day ever since, but Kate is convinced that unlocking the truth about Amelia's Indian past will hold the key to her own future...

Author Biography

Ann Bennett is a British author of historical fiction. Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter's Quest, was inspired by researching her father's experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway. Bamboo Island: The Planter's Wife, A Daughter's Promise, Bamboo Road: The Homecoming, The Tea Planter's Club and The Amulet are also about WWII in South East Asia, all six making up the Echoes of Empire Collection. Ann is also the author of The Lake Pavilion, The Lake Palace, both set in British India during the 1930s and WWII, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, both set in French Indochina. The Runaway Sisters, bestselling The Orphan House, The Child Without a Home and The Forgotten Children are published by Bookouture. Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and lives in Surrey, UK. For more details please

Review

Couldn't put it downAnother wonderful book by Ann BennettA beautifully woven tale that takes the reader from 1936 India to England in 1941 then finally to the conclusion in 1970Geographically it spans continents but through it all shows that abusive relationships are common to all countries and settings.Amelia is a wonderful character whose character initially appears flawed until we learn more about her life and the courage she showed in finding a way out . Five Stars: Amazon Reviewer
Great readI love reading books that take place in India. There is so much about this beautiful country that I was never taught in school . This story peeked my interest right from the start and even though I was able to figure out some of the plot early on, I continued to read on enjoying each chapter. Five Stars Amazon Reviewer

Interesting book set in England and IndiaI really enjoyed this book. It was well written and it was about a girls great aunt what happened to her during 1936-1940 In India. Also it was about her niece Kate had inherited her great aunts cottage and finding out what exactly happened during during those years before her aunt came back to England. As well as finding herself after thinking for many years exactly what happened the summer of 1940 in England. The story goes back-and-forth between 1930's and 1970. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading fiction books based on historical facts.Five stars - Amazon Reviewer
History with MysteryThe book is full of suspense to solve two mysteries, that are connected through the main protagonists - Kate and her great aunt Amelia - and across time and place. The last days of the British Raj is the setting for Amelia's mystery, and a village in England for Kate's. This is a page-turner and historically evocative. Four Stars Amazon Reviewer

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