When Joyce is born in the East India Company's Madras Presidency, her bad mother rejects her but her father, an earl's youngest son, adores her. As a child Joyce is afraid of her mother. Only time will tell if her stepbrother, Sylvester and his friend, Vivian de Lancy can keep their promises to protect her. She loves them, her father, her ayah, and Mistress de Lancy. Joyce dreads the day when, according to custom, she must follow Sylvester and Vivian to England to be educated.

Nine years old she is sent to her grandfather's ancient castle in Cornwall. Heartbroken, surrounded by strangers, she never changes her opinion that England is a dull, gloomy, grey country. At just seventeen she is a reluctant debutante still longing for her happy life in Hindustan, a dazzling land with exceptional beauty to which she is determined to return. To comfort herself during dreary years, whenever Joyce is most homesick, she clutches her most precious treasure, a heart-shaped pendant Vivian gave her.

Sylvester, who abhors the climate, fatal diseases, insects and snakes in India, settles in England. Vivian, heir to his mother's emporium, the largest in Madras, returns to India which he loves.

While betrayed by those Joyce loves most, can she come to terms with it and triumph over many unavoidable, painful twists and turns in her life? Is it impossible for her to marry a suitable gentleman she loves and enjoy the happy life she craves?

EDITORIAL REVIEW by Victoria Chatham

The Nabob's Daughter by Rosemary Morris

Rosemary Morris has drawn on her extensive knowledge of India to create a vibrant setting for her story. The reader is drawn into a world of searing heat, colourful sights, the smell of exotic food, and the extremes of luxury and lack. It is also the world of the East India Company, that melting pot of nationalities importing and exporting silks and spices, cotton and coffee, indigo and opium and much more. It was possible for anyone, regardless of their origins, to amass huge fortunes, being termed nabobs in the process.

Benedict Tremayne, fifth son of the Earl and Countess Tresellion, did exactly that after serving his time in the Company. Having built an extravagant home, Benedict hoped to fill it with a family. His first wife died, leaving him with a son, Sylvester. His second wife presented him with a daughter, Joyce, who she promptly turned her back on. Benedict loved his son and adored his daughter, who, in turn, adored him. Joyce not only loved her papa but loved India, too. She was heartbroken when the time came for her to voyage to England to finish her education and be presented to the Queen at Court, the correct progression of etiquette for young ladies of the time.

During her years in England, Joyce learns that trade is frowned upon, but its profits are not. While the Earl and Countess welcome her into the family, Joyce is skeptical of some of the people she meets, but not Gawayne Gascoyne and his sister Morwenna. When her grandparents become aware of Joyce's growing interest in Gawayne but suspect him of being nothing more than a fortune hunter, they arrange a suitor for her. Joyce is horrified and refuses the marriage. She cannot wait to return to India, the land she loves and the home she misses. When she does return, it is to find her world in turmoil yet again. Does Joyce rise above it all? You will have to read The Nabob's Daughter to find out.

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