The Promise of Rain

A treasured necklace that could unlock a family mystery. But why has it been hidden away for sixty years?

With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon, Anna Kotze has accepted that there are some family secrets she’ll never know. While her mother’s Zimbabwean roots are woven into her life, all her father will say is that he was adopted. But when she finds an engraved necklace hidden among his things, a surprise piece of the puzzle finally falls into place: her father wasn’t just adopted—he was abandoned.

The only clue to her grandmother’s identity is the inscription, ‘Indira’, Anna’s own middle name. But who was her namesake and where is she now?

Anna knows she must do whatever it takes to find answers. But when clues finally begin to emerge between the thunderstorms of Zimbabwe and the monsoons of India, she realises the necklace could take her deeper than she imagined. Is she ready for what she might find? And will the truth finally chase away the dark clouds hanging over her family’s past?

Vasundra Tailor, bestselling author of the novel The Secret of Elephants, was born in India and raised in Zimbabwe when it was called Rhodesia. She is a qualified pharmacist who completed her Masters in Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Strathclyde. After a long career in the NHS, she is now indulging in her passion for reading and writing novels. In 2019 she received the Mo Siewcharran Fiction Competition runner-up prize for her first novel, and in 2023 she was awarded Student of the Year from The Writers Bureau. Based in London, Vasundra loves meeting people from diverse backgrounds and learning about their individual journeys in life.

You can follow Vasundra on Instagram and Twitter @vasundrajay.