Hilary Byrd is coming unglued. He's in the early stages of a mental breakdown, he's fast departing the middle-aged years with their gradual loss of the pleasant illusion of a limitless future, and he's at odds with modern England at every turn. His rock of a sister can't seem to save him from this sense of being cut off, so for once in his life he takes a decision. He decides, about his own life's direction, that he will go Find Himself in India.

She disapproves of this, really for quite sensible reasons, but the time to be sensible is past.

I was ready, at that point, to stop reading for good. After all, I liked—a lot—but didn't love Author Carys's novella <I>West</I>, with its gorgeous sentences and its superbly concentrated plotting. I thought this read would be a similar exercise. So I put it down at this rather mundane point, and didn't pick it up until I read this year's glorious paean to Love, and lovingkindness, <I>Clear</I>.

This turbocharged my willingness to look further into this take on self-discovery through travel to "exotic" locale...a drearily bourgeois genre that I really, really do not like. Elizabeth Gilbert and Peter Mayles ruined it for me with their icky Othering search for "Authenticity" which comes across to me in this elder stage of my life as "authentoxicity." I am shocked at anyone, in the twenty-first century, who can make it all the way through a story like those without thinking, "interrogate your privilege, or at the very least recognize it!" That is, of course, the person of the Twenties talking to people of the Nineties...societal advances do not travel against time's arrow.

But this story isn't of its time...its time is now...nor is it about another time, it's set now. Just not here. Ooty, the old British "hill station" where the book is set, is in South India. Are your feelies itching as much as mine right now? I mean...hill station! That really übercolonial concept of "place the colonizers go to escape the commonfolk when it gets too hot." And a British guy rents a mission house, where the imperialists of the spirit retired from their efforts to screw up the indigenous population's relationship to their own souls with the caustic bleach of christiainty!

The icks are building steadily.

This, then, was not the most satifying of follow-up reads to my joyously absorbed <I>Clear.</I> I'm not revealing my dark corners when I say that all things christian leave me coldly hostile. Hilary isn't much of a christian, demonstrating a glancing awareness of but no familiarity with the mythos. His occupancy of a younger colonialist man's living quarters that were built as, and still serve as, a locus for slopping this terrible blighting thought pollution all over poor India (which, not coincidentally, has its own history of exporting religious intolerance). That young man's rush home to Canada is, permaybehaps, intended to serve as a kind of Divine Will's invitation for void-of-course Hilary to come be a white savior. I got that vibe as his relationship with Priscilla deepened, mostly because of "the Padre," who I took against from giddy-up to whoa.

Nonetheless, I can say that my tonal twangs where I was likely meant to thrum instead, were idiosyncratic to me. I think a person less repulsed by christian overtones might not even see them in this story. My discomfort with the ableist misogyny, the colonialist-Finding-Himself in the former colony, and that really terrible Padre, means all my stars are for the beautiful sentences, unfolded with the inevitability of flower petals obeying Bernoulli's spiral.

Not my most resounding recommendation, I fear.

This book is set in India and revolves around 5 characters. It contained lovely descriptions of the countryside, but the story didn't hold my interest. Part of the problem was I didn't find the main character likable. The book was slow with an unsatisfying ending.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for my unbiased review

I requested The Mission House as background reading for a review that we were planning to run on BookBrowse. Frustratingly the review itself fell through - not due to the book but because of the assigned reviewer's personal circumstances. But we did still include the book in our Publishing This Week newsletter mailed to about 35,000 (open rate around 32%) and there is a permanent listing at:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/15644/the-mission-house

My first book by Carys Davies was her story collection, The Redemption of Galen Pike, which I loved. Every book I've read from her since has been good but for whatever reason I'm just not super interested in the setting, although I end up invested in the characters.

Hilary Byrd stays with a priest in a former British hill station in south India during a time of conflict. He seems to be escaping his own reality back home, but has made wrong assumptions about India - the weather, his wardrobe, etc. Then he starts to get to know his driver and the teen who was rescued by the priest. I won't spoil how it ends but it is a Davies ending for sure.

A quiet, subtle novel, I found myself enjoying the storytelling from this author. Reading other people's reviews it is easy to understand their grumblings about lack of plot, but for me that wasn't a negative. Hilary Byrd's transformation from awkward and timid, into someone a bit more confident and social was to me the heart of the story, but of course that isn't meant to be the main focus. The ending was jarring and not in sync with the rest of the novel, but maybe that was the point.

Published by Scribner on February 16, 2021

“Why is it a condition of life that we are made to love things if we are only to lose them?” Hilary Byrd asks himself sad questions throughout The Mission House. Whether he will find satisfactory answers to any of life’s riddles is the question that drives the reader’s interest in Byrd’s unremarkable life.

The reader is not told much about Hilary Byrd, but we know that his life was touched by tragedy during the Troubles. His sister Wyn may be his last friend, but even that relationship is strained. Byrd is in his early 50s. He spent half his life as a librarian in the UK. Byrd particularly enjoyed the library’s alcove of dictionaries in multiple languages and was disheartened when they were replaced by computers. He was fond of discovering words that had fallen out of use and felt saddened by their demise. His favorite forgotten word of the Norn language is dagw’’ilj’’ (pronounced dag-wall-gee), a word that means “to work continuously with poor result.” The unwanted dictionaries and forgotten words (particularly dagw’’ilj’’) might be symbolic of Byrd’s life.

Now Byrd is traveling and has made his way to India, a country that is much too hot for him. Taking a train to the mountains, where the heat is reputed to be less oppressive, he meets a kind Padre who offers him a good rate on a bungalow near the Padre’s church. The cottage was last occupied by a Canadian missionary named Henry Page.

Byrd is happy with the simple life that the cottage offers. He engages a fellow named Jamshed to drive him to the village each day in an auto rickshaw. Byrd uses these excursions to purchase food and browse books in the village library, where he learns how British rule has affected the town and the Toda people who are indigenous to the mountain region. Byrd occasionally converses with Jamshed but usually ignores him. Jamshed keeps a journal of his interactions with Byrd and fantasizes about having an enduring friendship with the man.

Jamshed’s nephew is Ravi, who works as the town barber and dreams of becoming a country-western singer. He has acquired a Stetson hat and a horse named Stephen. Ravi might also be hoping to acquire Priscilla, the young woman who lives in the presbytery with the Padre, who hopes to one day find her a suitable husband, suitable meaning “a good Christian man.” Priscilla has a short right leg and no thumbs, disabilities that, in the Padre’s view, might make her unmarriageable.

The foolishness of aging men is a central theme of The Mission House. At first with fear and then with hope, Byrd wonders whether the Padre might be thinking of him as a suitable husband for Priscilla. As he warms to the idea, he searches his conversations with the Padre for clues and gives them an optimistic spin but is invariably disappointed when the Padre mentions other potential suitors. He fears being judged a fool if he expresses any interest in Priscilla, even as he considers purchasing an engagement ring. “As long as he held it all inside himself, his feelings and everything he is doing, it seemed to him as if anything was possible.” Priscilla thinks of Byrd as a kindly uncle because he is helping her learn to sew and make scones and read English. Whether she will return Byrd’s affection seems unlikely, but who knows what might happen?

Byrd’s longing for Priscilla builds the foundation for the novel’s gentle humor. Byrd begins to dress in Henry Page’s clothes in the hope that they will make him look younger. He begins to attend church (despite having renounced Christian faith) because the Padre thinks Priscilla should have a Christian husband. (Nobody has consulted Priscilla, who views religion with a jaundiced eye.) Jamshed’s fascination with Byrd and Ravi’s pursuit of a country music career add to the story’s comic appeal.

Despite its humor, The Mission House is ultimately an exploration of lonely people who are discouraged by life. In both the Bible and the fairy tales that Priscilla is learning to read, she sees “considerable suffering and occasional joy and people doing all kinds of ugly things to each other,” an observation that sums up life as experienced by most of the novel’s characters. Like Byrd and Priscilla, Jamshed and Ravi and Henry Page are all vaguely disappointed with their lives. But The Mission House is also a novel of hope. Byrd comes to realize that his trip to the mountains in India has changed him for the better. The changes are small, but he had new experiences, learned new things, and even experienced a new love. Perhaps embracing small improvements in life rather than obsessing about unfulfilled desires is the key to living a good life.

Yet living a good life might mean putting aside one’s own desires and making sacrifices for the benefit of others. The novel’s unexpected ending is inspired by the rise of a Hindu nationalist party in India and, like nationalism everywhere, an intolerance of different religions and people who come from other places. The ending isn’t quite out of the blue — it is foreshadowed by Byrd’s reading and by chance remarks — but it changes the novel’s tone in a way that is almost shocking. There’s no need to be put off by that warning because the ending is left open, giving optimistic readers a chance to believe that good things might ultimately happen to people who prove their goodness in unexpected ways.

Still, the novel is more personal than political. The depth of its characterization and the unanswered questions it poses are as nourishing as Carys Davies’ meticulous prose. The juxtaposition of decent characters and the indecent world they inhabit makes The Mission House a layered novel that springs a new surprise with every chapter.

RECOMMENDED

Courtesy of NetGalley, I received the ARC of The Mission House by Carys Davies. This is a captivating story of an Englishman fleeing his life in the UK, feeling depressed with his situation, unlucky and unloved, and his journey to post colonial India. He eventually perceives that he has discovered his life's purpose while living with the local Padre and his adopted daughter, travelling about the area with a trusted driver.. In "reality", everyone has a different direction in this fractured world. Told with simplicity and eloquence, this is story of observations, opportunities, and connections.

Possibly

I am fond of hill stations, those old towns in the hills outside of former British administrative centers. Whether in Burma or India or Celon or Malaya, these charming resorts of the day bring to mind a different life at a different pace.

I had hoped that reading "The Mission House" would bring on some of that nostalgia, and while it did remind me of pleasant and unusual old times in these old places, as a novel it left me cold.

Overall I was not particularly interested in the characters or the story and I wonder at some of Carys Davies narrative choices and her sense of rhythm and pacing. You, however, may possibly find the idea of a retreat from the heat of the plains inviting.

"The Mission House" is a lovely book about a small Indian town and the characters whithin. Hillary Byrd is a middle aged Englishman traveling to find peace in his depression. On a train trip, he meets the priest at a small mission who offers him a cozy bungalow. Hilary settles in, and makes a connection with Jamshed, the driver of a pedi cab who takes him wherever he wants to go.

At this point, you're thinking that this novel will be about Hilary's re-engagement with life through the kindness of others. Don't be deceived. This novel will offer a number of surprises, touching characters, heart, and brutality.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this fine novel.

When Hilary Byrd escapes his library, his sister, his home in England to travel to India, he is unprepared for its noisiness, heat and strangeness. He escapes to Ooty, a hill station refuge, and the Mission House.

What Hilary cannot escape are the religious and political tensions of India, and while he tries to remain an outsider and a tourist, the people around him draw him into their lives.

This is a slow moving book, with a disconcerting ending. Although I enjoyed the writing, the characters and the setting, I was left unsatisfied by the finish.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Mission House is a small, lovely story with both delicate humor and heartbreak, both gentleness and violence, both keen perception and misunderstanding between its characters.

Set in a remote outpost of the former British Empire in 21st-century India, the book's cast includes a British man recovering from a breakdown; an elderly Indian who is a Protestant priest; his young housekeeper who is an eager student and has a defining physical handicap; a self-educated rickshaw driver, and his nephew, who is enamored of America's country and western music.

What is brilliant about the book are 1) the mastery of the setting, in the cool highlands of India; 2) the tapestry of interactions woven between the five main characters. Each is highly intelligent and curious about the others. Each has pronounced views about religious faith, and 3) the transcendent writing style, where the craft was simply invisible, wedded to the story line.

Priscilla, the housekeeper, summarizes her "much ado about nothing" attitude toward religion: "They were all of them, it seemed to her -- the Mormon boys and the Hindu temples and St. Peters and all the rest of them -- the same, like so many shops or market stalls or street traders, all of them hustling for business, all trying to make themselves more appealing than the last one or the next one."

I loved this book. I loved that the politics were so subtle.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance readers copy.

This book had such potential as the author's writing style was really good. However, I just couldn't get into this story as I felt like something was lacking. I cannot figure out what, but it was a read that I struggled to finish. I am giving this 3 stars because the author does have a great writing style.

Award-winning novelist Carys Davies’ latest novel opens on an Englishman abroad, the wilting Hilary Byrd, whose dissatisfaction with his life is palpable as he struggles with the heat of the plains of India before following a rumor of refuge to a hill station in the cool highlands. On the train trip over, he meets the priest of the town’s Protestant church, who offers him cheap, temporary lodging at the mission house next to Padre Andrew’s own. The missionary who had been staying there has gone back to Canada to sort out some visa issues, so Padre Andrew is happy to have Byrd move in for a while despite the latter being not much of a Christian, a standard Church of England upbringing notwithstanding.

Byrd is initially wary of his new surroundings but begins to relax as he grows more familiar with the place. Or, perhaps, as the foreign town becomes more familiar to him:

QUOTE
And yet he wasn’t sure if he’d like it as much as he did if it weren’t for the things that <i>were</i> like home and therefore made him feel <i>at</i> home--the calm orderliness of the Botanical Gardens, for instance, and the Victorian splendor of the old library; the gingerbread eaves of the post office and the piles of Penguin paperback books in Higginbotham’s, all in English, most of which he knew like the back of his hand.

Perhaps--he found himself saying to the old man, Jamshed, as they drove through the town and Byrd sat on the floor of the clattering auto just behind him--it was the combination of the strange and familiar that suited him. Perhaps there was a balance that was just right for his personality. Perhaps it provided him with a sort of perfect equilibrium.
END QUOTE

Jamshed, his usually silent if devoted autorickshaw driver, is happy to listen and take Byrd wherever he wants to go, and even happier to rake in more wages than usual due to having a repeat customer he doesn’t have to fight the other local drivers over. The money is going to fulfil the off-beat dreams of the only family he has left, his nephew Ravi. But as the days progress, Jamshed’s initial interest in Byrd grows into a fondness for his odd, anxious passenger, causing him to one day make a terrible choice that lands Byrd in the maelstrom of unexpected violence.

For Byrd, absorbed as he is in his own demons, deliberately knows little of politics and conflicts in the wider world. This blissful ignorance is something that Padre Andrew, for one, cannot afford, not with news of his country’s religious unrest constantly brought up to him by his own daughter, living far away in America. She worries that Hindu ultranationalism, so hostile to every religion except its own, will paint a target on her father’s back. Padre Andrew tries to assuage her fears but can’t quite quell his own, asking Byrd over dinner one night:

QUOTE
Was the UK also in trouble? he asked, munching rapidly on a handful of fryums. People wanting to be surrounded only by people who were the same as they were? Wanting to travel back in time to a golden place? He told Mr. Byrd about the beatings and the burnings, the lynchings and riots, and Hilary Byrd looked up from his plate. There was an absent look on his face, as if he was not quite present and had more important matters on his mind. Was the UK in trouble? Byrd said he didn’t know, he wasn’t sure. Everyone seemed excited about the Olympics--very happy and proud and patriotic--but beyond that, he couldn’t say. It was a long time since he’d traveled anywhere beyond Petts Wood, and that seemed like a peaceful enough place.
END QUOTE

The world of 2011 when this novel is set, a mere decade ago, feels so far gone already, as Brexit and the ongoing unrest in India -- never mind a pandemic amid the global rise of right-wing nationalism and worse -- have changed political landscapes such that only the very lucky can claim to lead lives untouched by the bitter fruits of xenophobia. Though Padre Andrew tries to focus on his most pressing concern, the almost Austen-like need to marry off his ward Priscilla, the dark shadow of irrational hatred will not leave even his remote household alone. The tension is almost unbearable as this seemingly quiet novel of seeking connections uses its final chapters to underscore how ignoring the political for the personal can only lead to sorrow.

Even so, Ms Davies reminds us, there is hope, in love and in friendship. I personally disagreed with Byrd’s choice as being impractical even as I’m hoping for the best in his ambiguous ending. My heart is still pounding as I write this, thinking of those exquisitely suspenseful chapters. The Mission House is a book that will live long in the memory, a snapshot of the global lull before the storm, a subtly determined subversion of colonial tropes that is also a celebration of the enduring power of the human spirit to choose courage in the pursuit of amity.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Mission House by Carys Davies is a powerful story. This book has four central characters, but I was preoccupied with the lead protagonist, an Englishman, Mr. Hilary Byrd, who travels to India well past his 50’s to find something, something he doesn’t know exists. At home, Mr. Byrd has never fit into society as his mental instabilities make life hard for him. Byrd wants an orderly life, simple life, and even his job in a British library causes him to spiral out of control over the disorder and ever-changing world in which he lives. He elects to travel to India alone, and while Mr. Byrd disconnects from anything he has ever known, he finds connections in this new and lush land. Enjoying the remnants of the landmark relics of British colonial lifestyle long past, he feels that India is a good blend of Britain and India. He finds connection with a Padre on his train ride who invites him to stay at a “missionary” house on the Anglican Church grounds. He finds a connection with the driver of a rickshaw/car who becomes his daily companion/confessor as he is chauffeured around town. He finds a connection with the young disabled girl who serves the old Priest and befriends Mr. Byrd. He begins to imagine a new life for himself as he changes clothes, grows a beard, and becomes someone new. But it is only a temporary mask, and it is only at the end that he realizes that while he has found a moment of happiness, he is the same person he always was (albeit better) up to the moment that his circumstances become dire when he makes a final life changing decision.  I LOVED THIS BOOK. The author writes a beautiful and stunning story. At one point, she writes: “He was at home here, and also, he wasn’t; a feeling that he belonged, somehow, here in these foreign hills, and also that he didn’t; a feeling that he was supposed to be here, and that he wasn’t; that there was a point to everything, and that there was no point at all.” Author Carys Davies's words are powerful. Read it. Thank you to NetGalley for the ERC, but my thoughts are my own and without bias. @netgalley #carysdavies #themissionhouse #lindaleereads2021

To escape his life and challenges in the UK, Hilary Byrd travels to a former British hill station in South India. Here, he finds refuge in a mission house with Padre and Priscilla, a disfigured 20-year-old orphan whom Padre has adopted. Byrd also explores the city and his favorite places with the help of rickshaw driver Jamshed to whom Byrd shares his life, history and reasons for being in India.
Meanwhile, Padre is looking for someone to care for Priscilla. Byrd considers his role in providing this care, but Priscilla has her own ideas, which leads to the book's sad but true love conclusion.
I enjoyed the author's storytelling skill and the short chapter. The comedy of errors and crossed paths kept my attention and broke my heart.
The marketing materials advertise this novel as "captivating and propulsive" as an Englishman "finds himself caught in the crossfire of local tensions and violence." I agree that it's captivating and violent (in the end), but I somehow missed the emphasis on local tension. That's an understated aspect of the novel that takes a backseat to Byrd's mental and emotional challenges.
While this novel isn't necessarily an easy beach read or one of my faves, it is an engaging book that explores love, faith, mental health, family, and friendship.

4.5 Stars

Here's to the ones who dream
Foolish as they may seem


This is a quiet, little novel that is situated away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, set in Ooty, a remote hill station in India where the influence of England and America can be felt, especially as it pertains to music. There is an essence of nostalgia that permeates this story, a penchant for the Old Wild West, Cowboy hats, horses and Country Music, and although this is set in the present, it feels like another time altogether. There is a romanticized atmosphere of India being a place where life is somewhat simpler, bordering on an idyllic dream and a reverence for a simpler life with meaning.

Hilary Byrd has come to this place seeking a break from the endless noise of modern living, and finds refuge in a missionary’s small bungalow courtesy of the Padre. Living there in the shadow of the spire, he finds a sense of peace in the setting, the garden, even the arrangement of his books on the windowsills...The mist and the clouds and the rain. High up here by himself, on the slope of this other hill, it was like being in an ark that had come to rest, happily, in this precise spot.He frequently sets off with Jamshed and his rickshaw to take him places, and he comes to appreciate these simpler days, and the simple joys he finds living among these people, and, eventually, the giving of himself in the process. He finds a sense of peace here, a purpose in life here that he could never find in England. He befriends Priscilla at the behest of the Padre, whose life story is heartbreaking, and teaches her how to sew, bake, giving her tools to help her find more independence, their bond growing over time.

Lives that appear destined to continue on one path may see new, possible futures as this story continues, with occasional subtle sprinklings of lightly comical moments, but overall this is a story that may take time to completely absorb all of the subtle nuances. Still I find that I am already missing the lovely and gentle touch with which this story is shared.



Pub Date: 16 Feb 2021


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Scribner

I enjoyed Carys Davies' previous novel, West, but The Mission House felt like a misfire. A bewildered middle-aged Englishman rents a parsonage cottage in a former British hill station in India. Davies switches between points of view in short chapters, which were finely-observed. But while the narrative obliquely references post-colonialism and religious violence, it never really gathers momentum.

"What was it, exactly, that he liked so much? Was it because it had an aura of home, or because it felt completely strange and new?"~from The Mission House by Carys Davies


I enjoyed Carys Davies last novel West so immediately requested his new novel The Mission House.

Hillary Byrd was no longer comfortable in a changed England and sought escape by traveling to India. He was still miserable until he learned about the beautiful climate of the hills. He rents the house of a missionary on leave and discovers the village has all the comforts he requires, the legacy of the British army. For the first time in years he was content.

His host, a padre, has taken in a young woman, Priscilla, and asks Byrd to help polish her education to fit her for marriage. While teaching her English and sewing and baking, Byrd is drawn to her. The padre despairs for her future after he is gone and seeks a husband. Byrd is jealous.

Priscilla may be deformed and dependent, but she has dreams and is determined to make her own future.

Byrd can't escape the tribalism running rampant in the world, people "wanting to be surrounded only by people who were the same as they were," seeking an imaginary ideal past. He left it behind in England only to fatally discover it alive in India.

Byrd is condescending toward the natives; even his love for Priscilla is a parable of colonialism. Byrd uses his dedicated native driver thoughtlessly, spilling out his thoughts and grievances on their daily jaunts, but he never sees the man as a person. The ending is both ironic and tragic, Byrd's last action misguided but noble.

The novel wields a big impact in 272 pages. The writing is quiet and introspective, but there is a powerful story here.

I received a free galley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.