Agra, 1938: Eighteen-year-old Florence Hunt has grown up riding horses past the Taj Mahal and chasing peacocks through her backyard under the critical gaze of her father. Increasingly enamoured with his work on the booming railway, Florence yearns to know more, but finds herself brushed away, encouraged only to perform the more ladylike hobbies of singing and entertaining guests. So when a dazzling young engineer walks into her life, she finds herself not only gripped by secret lessons in physics but swept entirely off her feet.

Portsmouth, 1953: Fifteen years later, Florence finds herself pregnant and alone in post-war England – a far cry from her sun-drenched existence in India. Struggling to cope with the bleakness of everyday life in a male-dominated world, Florence is desperate to find the woman she used to be. But when someone from her past reaches out, Florence might just have a chance to start over.

Soaring from the shimmering heights of the big top to the depths of heartbreak, can Florence find the happiness, independence, and passion she once had in order to start living again?

I was engrossed in this novel from page 1

Told through two timelines, this book revolves around the story of Florence depicting her life in India and England. This book takes us on a journey of self-discovery, freedom, a women's right in society and how it is never too late to fulfill your dreams. The book starts off with Florence in India, set across the lush valleys, gardens and forts. We move forward in time where she is England, pregnant and alone. We get to see her journey and how did she reach here and what all she had to sacrifice for this life. We see her struggles and difficulties in her various relationships either with her father, her husband or her friends. As a women she is restricted to do many things and how she overcomes it all and does what makes her feel truly alive. We see how the war of independence affected many livelihoods and forced people to do stuff they never imagined.
A great story written in simple language was definitely an interesting read.
I just reviewed In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced by Justine Bothwick. #IntheMirroraPeacockDanced #NetGalley

This is the story (historical fiction) of a woman finding her freedom and her voice. "In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced" follows the story of our unconventional protagonist, Florence, as she grows up in India and later moves to England, navigating WWII, India’s independence, and racial discrimination. Florence isn’t your typical British woman living in pre-WWII India—she enjoys riding horses and is interested in trains and mathematics. She unfortunately has a father who wishes she would be more ladylike and scorns her at every turn—the way he speaks to her is truly painful at points. The story flips between India and the UK and spans 15 years. We see Florence fall in love, meet an empowered woman, and soar to great heights (literally and figuratively). But life has more in store for Florence and she finds her world constricting, especially once she moves to Britain. As a reader, we are cheering for Florence to fight back and stand up for herself, yet we know how hard it is for those who are different to stand alone, against societal norms.

“Rebellion, a new refusal to accept the mediocre, the knowledge that there was so much to do and see, and she wouldn’t be confined by the lives and conventions of those around her.” (Bothwick, 2021) YES!!!!

Surprisingly, Florence’s life during WWII was skimmed over, which I found refreshing. This novel is more about cause and effect and Bothwick was very effective in how she used WWII to mould Florence’s character without going too much into the war (haven’t we’ve all read too many cookie cutter WWII historical fiction books?). This book also provided a little insight into how Indians viewed the war, which was great.

Bothwick’s novel was simply beautiful. She described everything in the right amount of detail. The characters were believable and real. The anguish, joy, and pain they felt, was tangible. Her writing was lovely and fluid—this was a quick read. Overall this provided a fresh look at women and their roles pre and post-WWII and I recommend!

Triggers: abuse, racism, bullying

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for providing me with an ARC.

2oth century India, Life is good. 1953 Portsmouth and life has changed dramatically. This is a wonderful tale of a young woman who has it all and then discovers that post war England is a tough place to be.

Historical fiction at its best, it reels you in, it shares the exoticness of India and the greyness of England. It takes you on a journey of one woman's life and how quickly it can change. It is a book that easily goes between periods and countries without getting lost. I love Florence as she is real, she has ups and downs but she has strength and courage.

A great debut novel full of description, sights, sounds and smells. You feel as if you are right there in the moment.

This is an excellent debut and I loved it.
Great style of writing that makes me feel sound/smell/colours of india, a strong willed and clever heroine, a dual timeline that works and never confused me.
Florence fascinated me as she's clever and well thought.
This is an excellent debut and I want to read other books by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A girl born and brought up in India and it is now 1938 where India is at the crossroads of an independence struggle. The British are not wanted
and Florence has to go home. She who has only known the warmth and color of the tropics is expected to conform to a rigorous insular life with
her aunt and make a life for herself. Her father seems unconcerned about her, just feels she has let him down by not shining at whatever he
expected her to do.

Florence's is clever with a bent for mathematics and engines - things which are not considered feminine enough and despite her long stint of work
with machines and in a supervisory capacity in a factory is not taken much notice of when she does apply to follow a line of studies. Florence's
story told between the time lines of Agra 1938 and Portsmouth 1953 could not be more of a contrast and she struggles to lift her head above
water and to make something of herself and her life. Subjugated by a husband who is a bully, with no family support of any kind she and her
son Robert have to find a way to survive.

The story is very descriptive in both countries - and shows how difficult it was for Britishers who had lived in the East for so long to try
to adapt to a country which they were strangers to and to a lifestyle they were not familiar with.

Heartbreak, derogatory attitudes faced by Florence would have broken many women but Florence strives to survive knowing that a better future
could be got.

The story was very rich in both emotion (sad, tense and happy) as well as very evocative of places where it took place.

In The Mirror, A Peacock Danced by Justine Bothwick was a descriptive dual-timeline historical novel about a woman’s journey to find herself, set amidst lush backgrounds of early 20th-century India and the slightly greyer background of mid 20th-century England. it was a slow paced but enthralling read and I enjoyed every minute exploring a very different time and place through Florence's perspective.

I received a complimentary copy of this book.

I loved the story as well as the way it was written!! This story follows Florence, fifteen years apart, and in totally different places. I liked the overall message of the story. Definitely worth the read!

This historical fiction has a way of teleporting you, with such vivid descriptions of each location. You can imagine the sights, smells, sounds and people.

It's hard to not fall in love with Florence as she battles to try and find her way in life that fulfills her heart. Faced against many odds she tries to keep fighting for a happy life for her and her son.

This is a book of hopes, dreams and strength.

The book follows Florence Hunt, an English woman who grew up in colonial India and lived there until the violence of the revolution drove her back to her home country that she had never known. We meet Florence as a fresh-faced 18-year-old girl who loves mathematics and dreams of going to an engineering school that women are rarely allowed to attend. We see her through heartbreaks, failed marriages, and moments of hope and rebellion.

I was crying at times and celebrating at others. This book had me genuinely feeling all the emotions. That was my real takeaway from the story - it was just so genuine. I've read so many books lately where I feel emotionally manipulated by the author. This book just rang so true. It was honest and compelling. Florence was very real to me. I knew her and I was rooting for her all the way.

I loved the pacing. Even when it moved slowly, it always felt like it was building up to something and every scene was intentional. I would recommend this to all my friends who love great historical fiction.

We follow two timelines of Florence's life, one in 1938 at Agra and the other in 1953 at Portsmouth. We learn of her strengths, her weaknesses and we watch her grow.

I love the attention to detail throughout this book. My favourite part is when we are brought back in time to Agra. It's not just the vivid images of the animals like the peacock, or the snake that was in the house, it's the spices and flowers. The imagery is so strong I swear I could smell and taste it on my tongue.

Whereas, in Portsmouth I felt that dreary wet cold weather. So it was a real change from Agra, but having this different atmosphere really helped to distinguish between the two time frames.

Living in the 30s, Florence was raised to be this idealistic woman of the society expected of her, especially her father. However Florence had other ideas she knew what she wanted in life, and although she was different compared to other women in her life she still wanted her blessing from her father.

If you like Arabian settings, strong willed women, duel timelines then I highly recommend this book.

Book is out now.
Thank you to Netgalley and Agora books for the gifting of a eARC and to Justine Bothwick.

This novel is set against the intriguing back drop of India, as a woman fulfills her quest for self discovery. I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Quite an enjoyable historical fiction novel. Florence's story is inspiring as a woman coming of age in revolutionary India and World War II. Her life has not been what she envisioned; however, through some soul searching she finds resolve and purpose.

In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced was not at all what I was expecting when I started reading it. I was immediately infatuated with Florence, a girl who grew up in Agra India, and whose father wanted nothing more than for his daughter to be like all the other daughters: prim and proper. The story alters between 1938 in India and 1945 in Portsmouth where Florence currently lives as an adult.

In 1938, during the British colonial rule in India, Florence is a young, eighteen-year-old girl, with no desire to be like the other young ladies who desperately wished to return back to England. She walked to the beat of her own drum and was fascinated with the trains that her father worked around in India. During her summer home from school, Florence falls in love for the first time with Jay, a young Indian engineer who explains how steam engines work and takes her along the tracks so that she can truly see what the job involves instead of doing the filing that her father typically assigns to her.

In 1945, Florence is married with a son. She is collapsing in on herself with the monotonous task of housekeeping that never changes while her husband goes down to the pub and is constantly taking the money that her father sends their way. The joy of living that Florence once had has escaped her and she herself missing Agra more and more and reflecting on her past life.

It was the artwork and title that drew me to this book and I have to say, that after reading it, it has left me wondering quite a bit. The historical fiction aspects that touched on British colonialism in India, as well as women rights left feeling very vulnerable and bare. It was a fantastic read and one that I would highly recommend this summer.

From the intriguing title, and the sumptuousness of the cover, In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced draws you into the exotic world of colonial India in the heady years just before the country's independence.

The story opens in 1938 and into the life that Florence Hunt enjoys in Agra with her widowed father. In a world of privilege and dazzling colour, Florence reaches her eighteenth birthday as a beautiful self-possessed young woman with a lively mind and an enquiring nature. The story then jumps forward to 1953 where we meet up with Florence in Portsmouth and my interest was immediately piqued as to how Florence came to be living in such dreary circumstances in post-war England.

I enjoyed piecing together Florence's life in India, especially her enthusiasm for all things engineering and in particular her interest in the railways which makes her something of an oddity amongst her female contemporaries however, she is filled with a questioning mind and it is this which moves the story forward. The author writes with a lovely, light descriptive touch bringing Florence's complex character to life with all the contrasts, both in India and England.

In the Mirror, a Peacock Danced flows beautifully with such an authentic feel to time and place that I was equally at home chasing the peacocks in India as I was immersed in the post war gloom of Portsmouth. Florence is a worthy protagonist, full of contrasts which comes from being caught between two worlds and it was fascinating to watch how all the pieces of her life finally came together.

I am sure that on the strength of this debut novel we shall expect to see much more from this talented new author in the future.

In the Mirror, A Peacock Danced is a captivating and compelling piece of sublime historical fiction set against the backdrop of Portsmouth, England and Agra, a city on the banks of the Yamuna river, in Uttar Pradesh, India. It's 1938 in India and Florence is becoming a woman as she is celebrating her eighteenth birthday and is in love for the very first time. Growing up in India under The British Raj and with British colonial rule, she was raised by her somewhat misogynistic father and Sita her "amah" after her mother’s sad passing, and although she had always been endlessly fascinated by engineering, and especially the railway her father works in and around, the time doesn't allow her to do such laborious or dangerous work. Because, of course, that is deemed to be the employment of men and she should be suited to a more ladylike existence. She adores her life in her native colonial India but is sent to Britain after the War of Independence in which India gained independence from our rule and lives in Portsmouth with her Aunt Sarah. The aim is for her to pursue her dreams in a richer part of the world, find a husband to marry and start a family.

But Florence misses Agra terribly and desperately longs for home and the balmy nights and daydreaming days. Before too long she begins to lose her way in life. She finds herself feeling bored with the monotonous everyday stresses and strains of running and maintaining a household; a job she never had to lift a finger to do in her native land due to able domestic servants. But then a surprise visitor arrives just in the nick of time to remind Florence that she has much to give and live for. This is a captivating, luscious and intoxicating piece of historical fiction complete with exotic location and the sense of time and place evoked superbly. I was swept away by the moving and alluring tale and found the outdated views of the time were accurately illustrated as well as addressing British colonialism, imperialism, woman’s rights, capitalism, desire and passion. The sights, sounds and smells of the time were vividly described so much so that I could transport myself to the banks of the Yamuna river and the hustle and bustle of the markets and can understand why Florence was reluctant to leave. An exquisite, richly atmospheric and absorbing read. Highly recommended.

This is a stunning story that captivated me from the beginning. Florence’s story is told in a dual timeline going skipping through the different stages of her life as well has having flashbacks to her time in India. Florence is such a strong character and her story is one of love, longing, heartbreak and determination. I honestly could read about her for a long time. I think this story would be amazing on the big screen.

Set in pre and post war India, this is a story that follows a dual timeline and captures the years of growing up and then growing older beautifully. Written in the steady voice of our Heroine, Florence Hunt, we take a look at her years spent growing up and maturing in India. We then meet her again at a later stage in life as a mother and wife living in England. A dull and uninteresting place compared to her childhood home. With flashbacks, and memories we see her life unfold and watch her find her feet in an ever changing world. A young woman who yearns for more than mediocrity and has an intrinsic fascination with the mechanical and mathematical world, she is not quite like all the other young women who belong to the families of the Club. An exposé of longing and loss, loss of will, love and direction, it was a beautiful book that captured the exotic feel of its exotic setting. Set during a time when India was thrown into turmoil as they strove for independence, this unsettled energy followed our young woman throughout her tale as she tried to find her feet. Our leading lady lead an interesting life, a life that had me wishing to join in and live right along with her. The quiet joy that she thrived on had me in her thrall and had me wishing for nothing but the best for her. Alas, this is a book about a woman returning to herself after she had lost the girl she had once been, drowning in the bone deep sadness that she couldn’t seem to shake, so the best was not always what she received. I find myself unable to think of a peacock in the same way I used to before this reading experience. To find out why, I would recommend you read the book. Sumptuous writing and an exotic setting come together perfectly to create a novel of great beauty, quiet joy and deep sadness. A book that perfectly displays the loneliness felt when you leave your heart behind and lose yourself along the way. I enjoyed it thoroughly and am not ashamed to say that I shed many a tear towards the end. A book I am sure I will return to in the future just to visit my new favourite human cannonball again, the girl who drove a truck in the war and somersaulted over a rainbow. A peacock who learnt how to fly.

In The Mirror, A Peacock Danced by
Justine Bothwick Pub Date: 24 June 2021
Agra, 1938: Eighteen-year-old Florence Hunt has grown up riding horses past the Taj Mahal and chasing peacocks through her backyard under the critical gaze of her father. Increasingly enamoured with his work on the booming railway, Florence yearns to know more but finds herself brushed away, encouraged only to perform the more ladylike hobbies of singing and entertaining guests. So when a dazzling young engineer walks into her life, she finds herself not only gripped by private lessons in physics but swept entirely off her feet.
Portsmouth, 1953: Fifteen years later, Florence finds herself pregnant and alone in post-war England – a far cry from her sun-drenched existence in India. Struggling to cope with the bleakness of everyday life in a male-dominated world, Florence is desperate to find the woman she used to be. But when someone from her past reaches out, Florence might have a chance to start over.
Soaring from the shimmering heights of the big top to the depths of heartbreak, can Florence find the happiness, independence, and passion she once had to start living again?
This is a fabulous debut; it's well-written, dramatic and enthralling, full of sentiment and appeal; it's a story that held my interest from the start. So I am happy to recommend it.
I want to thank NetGalley, Agora Books and author Justine Bothwick for a pre-publication copy to review.

In The Mirror, A Peacock Danced is a historical novel that only covers a short period in time, between 1938 and 1953. It is however a very important time in India, where much of this novel takes place. During that time India gained independence from England and there was also the partition from Pakistan. I have read about both before but never anything that shows the level of anger, fear and worry from all affected.

Florence lives with her widowed father in Agra. She loves her life, apart from her father trying to live his dream of being an entertainer through her. Her passion is engineering, but with attitudes to women at the time she is discouraged. I have to admit that the engineering terminology went way over my head but thankfully they are only a small part of this novel. Instead we got to know Florence, her friends, her family and witness her unhappy marriages.

I found it fascinating that Florence had more freedom in India than she did in England. I thought she was listened to more, less patronised and was a lot happier. She didn’t want to be sent to a finishing school and married off. She wanted to be in a country with people she loved. Her relationship with Sita and Ravi was one that meant a lot to her, probably more than the one she had with her father.

I found this novel to be original and an extremely accurate account of an important time in history. Different to many that are set at the same time, the war only plays a small part, but when it did it highlighted the differences in attitude to the English armies compared to the Indian. It was hardly surprising that it caused a lot of upset.

I would definitely be interested in reading more by this author and also more about Indian history.