Review: "Shadowed in Silk" by Christine Lindsay

Reviewed by *Katie McCurdy for Legacy of a Writer

5/5 Stars

THE BOOK:

She was invisible to those who should have loved her.

After the Great War, Abby Fraser returns to India, where her husband is stationed with the British army. She has longed to go home to the land of glittering palaces and veiled women . . . but Nick has become a cruel stranger and a cruel father to their three-year old son. It will take more than her American pluck to survive.

Major Geoff Richards, broken over the loss of so many of his men in the trenches of France, returns to his cavalry post in Amritsar. His faith does little to help him understand the ruthlessness of his British peers toward the Indian people he loves. Nor does it explain how he is to protect Abby Fraser and her child from the husband who mistreats them.

Amid political unrest, inhospitable deserts, and Russian spies, tensions rise in India as the people cry for the freedom espoused by Gandhi. Caught between their own ideals and duty, Geoff and Abby stumble into sinister secrets . . . secrets that will thrust them out of the shadows and straight into the fire of revolution.

MY REVIEW:

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in this specific time period—the British Raj. Before reading Shadowed in Silk, I knew nothing about this. That all changed once I finished this book. Christine Lindsay has written a wonderful debut—the first in a series, too, looks like! I look forward to reading and hearing more about this talented author in the future.

Cam was such a dear. Through and through. I loved seeing the affections between mother and son as Abby watched over and protected her precious son. Geoff seemed like a great guy to get to know. Protective, kind, passionate…all the quality’s you want in a husband. And Abby discovered that right off! I felt for her, as she tried to deal with being married to a man who never cared for you. How sad!

The numerous Indian words, on occasion, got frustration, as I would have to go back to the beginning, find out what the word meant, before continuing on. But maybe that’s because I have such a bad memory, I couldn’t remember more than “Ayah” (Nanny), and was always forgetting what I’d just looked up. The plot was ingenious, and I loved the mystery of who “Vadik” was. Very well done!

Having a romance where one of them is married is always tricky, but I’m delighted to say that Lindsay handles the situation very well. Both Abby and Geoff continually steer away from their affections toward each other and don’t even voice it to the other until Abby’s situation changes. There is a husband who has a mistress while his wife is away, but besides this, the book is entirely clean and a wealth of historical information about the British Raj.

Debut books are always so crucial to an author, as that’s their “first impression” to the reading world. And I am glad to say that Christine Lindsay’s book passed with flying colors! Shadowed in Silk was brilliant, unique, and touching on a subject that I haven’t really seen in Christian fiction.

*I reviewed this book for FIRST Wild Card Blog Tours. Special thanks to Christine Lindsay for sending me a review copy. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.