Oh, this book! It is both enlightening and enraging, with characters you'd either love to have in your own life or so despicable you'd cheerfully strangle them with your own hands. The British Colonial Civil Service in the early 20th century is accurately portrayed, so it is less than flattering. From the total disdain most Brits had for the people and culture of Ceylon to their maddening insistence on recreating English customs, architecture, and fashion wherever they lived, no matter how inappropriate.

I loved how quickly both Stella and Norton appreciated the charm and intelligence of the Sinhalese people, as well as the significance of the rich cultural heritage. Neither had ever left England before but were quickly disillusioned with the role of the British Empire in Ceylon. Norton said, "I've started to ask myself why we have the right to lord it over people who have lived here and built their own civilization for millennia?" And from Stella, "I've learned that those who many of our countrymen would call savages have a vast and rich culture." Indeed.

Stella is brilliant, a gifted anthropologist who longs to study at Cambridge, but women were not allowed to get a degree. She is treated as a commodity by her father and brother, made to feel selfish because she doesn't want to marry the horrible man they chose. I was so infuriated that I had to put the book down and take a walk. I read with mounting dread as Stella desperately fought for a smidgen of control in a marriage contract with the odious Blackstock, knowing that men like him don't compromise and certainly not with a woman.

This story is not a diatribe against men, far from it. Clare Flynn paints an accurate portrait of patriarchy including the limitations it places on men. Some of this book's most likeable characters are male and there are some truly awful women. I sincerely hope there will be a sequel because Stella & Norton have barely begun their life by the end of this one AND what about Winnie? Inquiring minds want to know! I loved The Star Of Ceylon and highly recommend it.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Stella joins her father as his research assistant in Ceylon. The lush, tropical setting hides violence as well as romance. The setting and the time frame, in colonial Ceylon is evocative and immersive