The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas

Eileen enjoyed this book, which can be found on the shelves, or reserved at, Low Fell Library.

Eileen thought that this book told an interesting story.

The Kashmir Shawl is an epic story of wartime, family secrets and forbidden love, set against the exotic backdrop of 1940s Kashmir.

Nerys Watkins leaves Wales to accompany her husband on a missionary posting to India. Deep in the heart of Kashmir lies the lakeside city of Srinagar where the British live on houseboats and dance, flirt and gossip as if there is no war. But the battles draw closer and life in Srinagar becomes less frivolous when the men are sent away to fight. Nerys is caught up in a dangerous friendship; by the time she is reunited with her husband, the innocent bride has become a different woman.

Years later, when Mair Ellis is clearing out her parents’ house, she discovers an antique shawl with a lock of child’s hair in its folds. Mair then begins a journey following her grandmother’s path in India, a quest which will change her life forever.