Page 19 - magazine14_Neat

July 03 to July 09 2017 : Weekly News Magazine
messenger BOOK REVIEW
The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas
Spanning decades and moving from the stark beauty of
this is a story of bravery, courage and love. Within one Kashmir
the Welsh landscape to the Himalayas and Kashmir,
exotic land lie the secrets of a lifetime! Newlywed
Nerys Watkins leaves rural Wales for the first time in
19
her life, to accompany her husband
on a missionary posting to India.
Travelling from lonely Ladakh,
high up in the Himalayas, Nerys
discovers a new world in the
lakeside city of Srinagar. Here, in
the exquisite heart of Kashmir, the
British live on carved wooden
houseboats and dance, flirt and
gossip as if there is no war. But the
battles draw ever closer, and life in
Srinagar becomes less frivolous
when the men are sent away to
fight. Nerys is caught up in a
dangerous friendship, and by the
time she is reunited with her
husband, the innocent Welsh bride
has become a different woman.
Years later, when Mair Ellis clears
out her father's house, she finds an
exquisite antique shawl, woven
f r o m t h e f i n e s t y a r n s a n d
embroidered in the shades of lake
w a t e r a n d m o u n t a i n s k i e s .
Wrapped within its folds is a lock of
c h i l d ' s h a i r . T r a c i n g h e r
g r a n d p a r e n t s ' r o o t s b a c k t o
Kashmir, Mair embarks on a quest
that will change her life forever.
The
Shawl