Hi, I'm looking for a Beta Reader for my historical fiction "The Hanging Tree".
Giving the synopsis below. Please let me know if anyone is interested.
When twelve-year-old Dharma Singh scampers into the woods that border his mountain village, he blunders upon two men raping and strangling a girl. He flees the scene but cannot summon up the courage to report the crime to his autocratic father, the head of their tribal community. Buba despises Dharma as a weakling and favours his lively younger brother Kedar. Gangua, the girl’s father, hangs for the crime. Dharma feels culpable and the sight of the hanging tree, a symbol of his father’s authority, becomes a torment. He finds some relief a couple of years later, when Buba sends him to a mission school in a distant town. Here, he excels in his studies and encounters Christianity. Fascinated by the suffering figure of Christ, he tries to learn more about this new religion. Mentored by one of his masters, Mr. Hicks, Dharma eventually makes a life changing decision—to convert. His father’s reaction is to disown him and cast him out of the community. The missionaries take a devastated Dharma under their wing and he turns into an ardent evangelist. But a misguided attempt to reach out to his father and bring back his child bride Kalyani results in his being stoned out of the village. There is one positive outcome—Harak Ram, Gangua’s son converts, later becoming his assistant. After a period of intense loneliness, Dharma encounters Sarah Cooke, the daughter of a British artist and a local woman. Sarah strays into a prayer meeting Dharma is addressing and mesmerized by his fervour, falls in love with him. They get married, but Sarah is compelled to accept that for Dharma, his mission will always come first. She finds consolation in their children—Eric, Jacob, Richard, Nora and Phyllis. Years later, the even tenor of Dharma’s existence is disturbed when Kedar arrives with a message of reconciliation from their father. After some hesitation, Dharma agrees to visit with his sons and is gratified to discover that he has outgrown his childhood fears and can face the old man with equanimity. He renounces his claim to his father’s position in favour of Kedar, but avoids Kalyani, whom he had loved so passionately. Time passes. Dharma has attempted to atone for his childhood lapse by educating Samuel, Harak Ram’s son, along with his own children. However, when a grown up Samuel comes with a proposal for Nora, he is outraged and rejects him. Perturbed, Jacob points out that he has violated the principles of equality he constantly preaches. Dharma is distraught that the old prejudices have interfered with the process of restitution, so important to him. Anxious to mend matters, he pressures Nora to marry Samuel. However, Nora, who is in love with Hector Grey, an English missionary, runs away from home. Fortunately, Sarah and Dharma who know that Grey is deceiving her, manage to rescue her in time. Now Dharma has to face the bitter truth that by sacrificing his daughter to expiate his transgression, he has committed a worse sin. Overcome by remorse, he blurts out the secret that has always haunted him to Sarah. Shocked but sympathetic, she tells him that it is he who has to forgive himself, rather than anyone else.
Giving the synopsis below. Please let me know if anyone is interested.
When twelve-year-old Dharma Singh scampers into the woods that border his mountain village, he blunders upon two men raping and strangling a girl. He flees the scene but cannot summon up the courage to report the crime to his autocratic father, the head of their tribal community. Buba despises Dharma as a weakling and favours his lively younger brother Kedar.
Gangua, the girl’s father, hangs for the crime. Dharma feels culpable and the sight of the hanging tree, a symbol of his father’s authority, becomes a torment. He finds some relief a couple of years later, when Buba sends him to a mission school in a distant town. Here, he excels in his studies and encounters Christianity. Fascinated by the suffering figure of Christ, he tries to learn more about this new religion. Mentored by one of his masters, Mr. Hicks, Dharma eventually makes a life changing decision—to convert. His father’s reaction is to disown him and cast him out of the community.
The missionaries take a devastated Dharma under their wing and he turns into an ardent evangelist. But a misguided attempt to reach out to his father and bring back his child bride Kalyani results in his being stoned out of the village. There is one positive outcome—Harak Ram, Gangua’s son converts, later becoming his assistant. After a period of intense loneliness, Dharma encounters Sarah Cooke, the daughter of a British artist and a local woman. Sarah strays into a prayer meeting Dharma is addressing and mesmerized by his fervour, falls in love with him. They get married, but Sarah is compelled to accept that for Dharma, his mission will always come first. She finds consolation in their children—Eric, Jacob, Richard, Nora and Phyllis.
Years later, the even tenor of Dharma’s existence is disturbed when Kedar arrives with a message of reconciliation from their father. After some hesitation, Dharma agrees to visit with his sons and is gratified to discover that he has outgrown his childhood fears and can face the old man with equanimity. He renounces his claim to his father’s position in favour of Kedar, but avoids Kalyani, whom he had loved so passionately.
Time passes. Dharma has attempted to atone for his childhood lapse by educating Samuel, Harak Ram’s son, along with his own children. However, when a grown up Samuel comes with a proposal for Nora, he is outraged and rejects him. Perturbed, Jacob points out that he has violated the principles of equality he constantly preaches. Dharma is distraught that the old prejudices have interfered with the process of restitution, so important to him. Anxious to mend matters, he pressures Nora to marry Samuel. However, Nora, who is in love with Hector Grey, an English missionary, runs away from home. Fortunately, Sarah and Dharma who know that Grey is deceiving her, manage to rescue her in time. Now Dharma has to face the bitter truth that by sacrificing his daughter to expiate his transgression, he has committed a worse sin. Overcome by remorse, he blurts out the secret that has always haunted him to Sarah. Shocked but sympathetic, she tells him that it is he who has to forgive himself, rather than anyone else.