Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow

by Rashi Rohatgi

It's 1905, and the Japanese victory over the Russians has shocked the British and their imperial subjects. Sixteen-year-old Leela and her younger sister, Maya, are spurred on to wear homespun to show the British that the Indians won't be oppressed for much longer, either, but when Leela's betrothed, Nash, asks her to circulate a petition amongst her classmates to desegregate the girls' school in Chadrapur, she's wary. She needs to remind Maya that the old ways are not all bad, for soon Maya will have to join her own betrothed and his family in their quiet village. When she discovers that Maya has embarked on a forbidden romance, Leela's response shocks her family, her town, and her country firmly into the new century.

Genres: India

270 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2020

Reviews

[Aylin Niazai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank god this is a really small book because I have no idea what I just read 🥱. Nothing happens, there’s no proper explanation for anything. Just no 🙃

[Alana Bloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Rohatgi’s debut an insightful, layered and memorable coming of age tale. My heart ached for Leela and her struggle to reconcile her duties to family, community, and country with her wants and needs.

Leela’s story carries on at a very quick pace, providing snapshots of life for a 16-year-old girl reuniting with her betrothed while working to complete her teaching certification during the British occupation in India. Rohatgi treats readers to glimpses of everyday moments all while expertly weaving the complicated affairs of state as a grim but authentic backdrop to Leela’s story.

I wish I had a greater understanding of the British occupation of India and the relevant social mores of the time. I loved the warm, progressive setting in Leela’s home. Her father’s unwavering support of his girls made me smile. I wish we had a chance to see them interact a bit more.

Overall, this compelling debut novella was a fascinating look into a tumultuous period in Indian history from the eyes of a young girl. Truly, a thought-provoking story of love, family, and even a bit of self-discovery. I was left feeling unsatisfied at the end, though that is because I wished for a fairy-tale ending and it is clear that Rohatgi wanted to stay true to her themes. I highly recommend it for readers that want to read a historical fiction novel outside of the typical European settings!

*This review appeared first on Dream Come Review (Blog)
**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Viviane Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow. Rashi Rohatgi. Galaxy Galloper Press, LLC. March 2020. pb, 270 pp.; ISBN #: 9781733233293.

In 1905 Nash returns home to India after having spent time studying engineering in Japan, which has just won a war against Russia. India is now feeling they will unite and so have Great Britain leave their country. So it’s a time for protests and petitions to local and national politicians to win battles against segregation. Nash asks his fiancé Leela to get signatures for the petition ending segregation in Chadrapur’s local schools, Leela needs to take time to process such an action. She is definitely for the old ways and somewhat up for change into new ways. For now she is obsessed with her love for Nash and how his occasional kisses spark her love and desire for more. She wonders how such changes will affect families.

Things, however, are complicated. Nash and Leela are expected to marry and live in Nash’s small village. Nash however now wants to become a lawyer and not an engineer. Leela’s sister, Maya, has fallen in love with a Muslim, a union that would be forbidden and ostracized by their present neighbors. Maya believes that such a change must happen along with all of the other changes that are hopefully looming in the near future. Love to Maya is stronger than prejudice and segregation of religions.

There are multiple scenes where Leela, Maya and their father meet with Nash’s family. During these visits, much is mentioned that gives Leela and Maya food for thought and discussion. However, discussions never seem to resolve in a shared agreement about the future. Leela and Maya read many books as they prepare to teach in a local school. However, no one fully expects them to teach once they are married for social norms put marriage and becoming a parent over and above being a working woman.

This is a novel about the journey to change. Leela will commit an act at the end that totally changes her world and mandates she must embrace change even if she acts like it is all accidental and not part of a revolutionary plot. Reference is made to Buddhism and the beginning teachings of Gandhi.

Interesting historical read that contemplates how change demands different thought, feelings and actions in the midst of a traditional society. Fascinating reading!

[Lel Budge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is set in 1905, India.

Leela is 16 and is betrothed to Nash. He has just returned from 3 years of studying in Japan after being recalled due to the war between Russia and Japan.

Maya, is Leela’s younger sister and when they listen to Nash’s dreams of uniting the Hindu and Muslim population, they start to petition for the amalgamation of two girls schools. But, then a closer relationship builds between Maya and Hassan…..

This is a beautifully written insight into a turbulent time in Indian politics, with, at its heart, a tale of love and family. Historical fiction that’s so interesting and emotion packed too. Stunning.

Thank you to Michelle Fitzgerald at FSB Associates for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.

[Lel Budge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is set in 1905, India.

Leela is 16 and is betrothed to Nash. He has just returned from 3 years of studying in Japan after being recalled due to the war between Russia and Japan.

Maya, is Leela’s younger sister and when they listen to Nash’s dreams of uniting the Hindu and Muslim population, they start to petition for the amalgamation of two girls schools. But, then a closer relationship builds between Maya and Hassan…..

This is a beautifully written insight into a turbulent time in Indian politics, with, at its heart, a tale of love and family. Historical fiction that’s so interesting and emotion packed too. Stunning.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting novella, very well written and beautifully immersive in terms of day to day life in India in the early 20th century. There is, however, an assumption that the reader will be familiar with the political history of India during this era. I was not, and after being thoroughly confused on what was actually going on and why, I took a break from reading so I could instead read up on the history and politics. This did help, to a certain extent, but as is often the way with novellas, they don't have enough space for background details and a slowing down of the pace. The ending was particularly dramatic, but somewhat out of character. Much of this novella left me feeling exhausted by the whirlwind of loaded conversations with little context provided to the reader for clarity. All the what was there, but not enough of the why to satisfy my reading tastes.



Thanks is extended to the publisher for providing me with a copy via NetGalley of Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow for review.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a historical fiction buff but have never read about any of this before.
Russia and Japan are at war and Indian students in Japan were sent back to India.In 1905 Bengal was going to be divided into two by the British separating the Muslims and Hindus.
This is the story of leela living in a time of that partition and wanting to unite Hindus and Muslims.She is progressive and wants to do her part in uniting her country.
Loved the background history of that time.
Thankyou Netgalley for this arc.

[Miriam Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review here: https://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot....

Here is the book summary:
“It's 1905, and the Japanese victory over the Russians has shocked the British and their imperial subjects. Sixteen-year-old Leela and her younger sister, Maya, are spurred on to wear homespun to show the British that the Indians won't be oppressed for much longer, either, but when Leela's betrothed, Nash, asks her to circulate a petition amongst her classmates to desegregate the girls' school in Chandrapur, she's wary. She needs to remind Maya that the old ways are not all bad, for soon Maya will have to join her own betrothed and his family in their quiet village. When she discovers that Maya has embarked on a forbidden romance, Leela's response shocks her family, her town, and her country firmly into the new century.”

India in the early 1900s is a part of history that I knew very little about, other than a couple of movies—Gandhi, and A Passage to India. I had a vague understanding of the conflict between the Hindu and Muslim cultures of India and Pakistan, a subject dealt with extensively in the book. The two young women are attempting to negotiate life during a volatile time in Indian history. I enjoyed reading about the role of women and how Maya and Leela were attempting to alter history.

I found the novelized history of that time to be fascinating, knowing that the Hindu-Muslim conflict continues in the region. The Kirkus reviewer says, “The novel does an excellent job of placing readers directly into the politics of the time, highlighting the clash between old and new and between the region’s various subcultures.”

I am even more fascinated by the biography of the author Rashi Rohalgi, Wow! I would really like to meet her! She has studied marginalized peoples and lesser-known histories and is a professor of world literature in Norway. You will need to read her biography on her website to get the full picture of her incredible life journey. Here, also, is an interview with her as the book Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow was released earlier this week.

Beautiful characters. Beautiful cover. Fans of historical fiction will really enjoy this book.

[Suanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rashi Rohatgi's literary debut is Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow. It is set in 1905, which is the early Edwardian era of Great Britain and her colonies. Britain still occupies India, and that colors everything in Indian life. Years ago I read An Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohatma Gandhi and have spent some time in that part of the world. I was able to place Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow in the setting of pre-partition India with its protests, riots, and political unrest. Overall, this is a fascinating look into Indian history from the point of view of a young girl. The reader sees snippets of every day life of an upperclass family including the food. I could almost taste the papadam and roti.

Leela, a sixteen year old girl, is reunited with her betrothed, Nash, who has been in Japan for the past several years studying engineering. His family, though, asks her to stop school where she is learning to be a teacher and that the couple live in a village rather than the more cosmopolitan city of Chadrapur. She’s expected to regress from being an educated woman and become the typical wife and mother. Both Leela and Maya, her younger sister, are working to desegregate local schools. Things get complicated when Maya falls in love with a Muslim, a forbidden form of marriage which would ensure the family would be ostracized. Their father, though, is benevolent and cares deeply for his daughters, important as their mother died of the plague.

This is a novella about change. In the end, Leela commits an act that changes her future. She must embrace those changes and move forward, not back.

[Mohit Goel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to net galley for providing a copy.

This book didn’t really work for me. The terrible kindle version was partly to blame. The formatting was horrible. Words ran into each other and paragraph breaks were all over the place.

As to the content of the novel, the narrator was a very weakly drawn character. The climax of the novel has her doing something very out of character when she was a very passive character throughout the story. For someone in 1905, the narrator often times talks like a teenager from 2005.

The men of the novel (one of who, Nash/Avinash, is the main object for her affection) are hardly present actively in the story. Nash gets mentioned by the narrator multiple times on every page but hardly does anything worthwhile through the story.

The prose is all over the place. It jumps from very flowery to very juvenile in the same paragraph. In one instance, between the time the narrator opens a letter and the time she reads it, there is a very extensive description of the room she is reading it in. This makes for a very jarring experience. I could go on and on...

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because of the time period and concept of this story. In the beginning, I did like this book. Leela and Maya were good. They did bring good voices to the story. Although, I do agree with another reader that it did appear as if the girls did follow the male voices a bit more stronger than I thought they would. Don't get me wrong as the girls did make a stand. However, it is interesting to show just how much family, tradition, and society plays a part into our actions and ways of thinking.

So back to my comment earlier about in the beginning liking this book. What I meant by this is that while, I did like the story and the girls; it felt like everyone else was just white noise. I could not find that connection with them. Therefore, I struggled to connect with the story as a whole as well. Character connection is important and to a story like this I think it is very important. Sadly, this book did not do it for me.

[Maria-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn between giving it a three or four star, ended up going with the four. A 3.5 would have been more accurate on how I fell about the book.
This isn't a fast read and a couple of times I had to reread some pages. The author did transport the reader into a rather turbulent time in India and visualize the conflicting emotions of a young girl. Realize the girl is only 16 and husband to be has been absent for three years. In a lot of ways she had a sheltered life, no mother to prepare her and a father that has been lenient. Her naive emotional feelings are a result of her upbringing, age and time period.
For people who do not have much of a clue about the historical happenings circa 1905 in India I suggest you do some internet searches to familiarize yourself with India 1905 it will help clarify some of the situations.

[Mystica · Rating 4 out of 5]

1905 and Indians are chafing under the British yoke of colonialism. Even in Chandrapur in Bengal, (always a hotbed of revolutionaries) change is coming. There is a strong awakening not just in politics but in empowerment of women and Leela and Maya who are fortunate in having a rather benevolent father are in the forefront of education for women.

The story plays out for both these women wanting and yearning for love and marriage - one within the boundaries of caste and religion and one distinctly outside. It is not an easy time and the story shows the differences even within one country - where religion and caste can cause so much differences even whilst they try to unite for a common goal.

For readers who like history and a story woven into actual history, this is a wonderful read.

The biography of this writer alone deserves another story as it is fascinating.

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I’m learning a bit more about Indian culture and traditions with each book of Indian fiction I read. Every author has made it sound so beautiful – I think it’s not just the authors appreciating the beauty, but the value the culture places on its beauty.

The author’s conversational style made me feel like I was hanging out with Leela, Maya and their friends and family. Oddly enough, while I felt like we were nearly in the same room, I forgot that the story was taking place in 1905. Since I have a limited knowledge of world politics, the background wasn’t obvious to me, and I sometimes didn’t understand what was really going on.

I felt the conversational style, while very readable, never lent what maybe should have been a sense of urgency to the sisters and their motivations. The emotion of the characters felt about the same through everything in the book, to me.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow is the story of two sisters living in India during the early 20th century at the being of the rebellion against England. This is a time and region that I am not very familiar with so it was interesting to see how traditional expectations connect with more radical ideas of the youth. Is Gandhi's path correct or are riots the way to go? Do you separate the religions or can all go to the same schools?
I enjoyed this story but did have some issues following what was happening.

[Anne Carty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all. I understand that this was a tough time back in 1905. I was never aware of what happened during this time and I had no idea what was actually going on in this story. I needed a lot more background to know what was happening and why the plot of this story was important but I didn't understand it at all.

This story jumped around a lot and kept skipping many days and weeks and I kept becoming very confused and exhausted by the constant dialogue and many character introductions.

Although this story was well written and had a lot of beautiful writing but I could not get into this story at all.

The ending of this story really through me for a loop our main character does something absolutely terrible and it was so out of character. There were also no repercussions at all for this terrible, horrible act and the story just continued like it didn't happen which infuriated me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good overall. The author shows some solid talent, and readers will a little about Indian ways. I stayed mostly engaged, and enjoyed the emotions evoked throughout. I also liked the dialog. Probably best for historical fiction readers.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

[Sandra Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and easy to read novel.
My Review

[Kristin (Kritters Ramblings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

In India and 1905 and there is some unrest amongst the people and this book takes an interesting view from the eyes of a sixteen year old girl who is on the cusp of a lot of change and you see how she wishes her home country to look like now and in the future.

This book was really out of my comfort zone and I enjoyed it, but it made it hard to read. Both in time and place, I didn't know anything about India in 1905 and I had to read this book nice and slow so I could hope to get the most out of it. I loved Leela as the main character and I appreciated her hope for her home country - it gave the book a positive tilt even with the amount of negativity she was surrounded by.