Before the Rains by Dinah Jeffries. I,absolutely loved,this book and highly recommend it. I will be reading more from this author.

Another great read from an author who is on top of her game. India as we wouldn't know it but it makes you want to book the next flight over! An insight as to how the life of everyday folks can be transformed depending on whether you have wealth or not. Her characters are always so nice and attractive that if we were to meet them we would feel privileged. A book to be read when you have lots of time and nowhere to go in a hurry as it is a real page turner and the reader is reluctant to put it down.

A beautifully written book which conjures up the atmosphere of 1930s Rajputana (now known as Rajasthan). The main character is Eliza, a widowed female photographer who desperately wants to succeed in her career at a time when women were expected to marry and stay at home. She is sent by the British government to photograph a prince in India, with whom she connects. In unveiling the poverty of the region she brings about a political awakening in him. A very compelling read.

I’m a big fan of Dinah Jefferies I love the way she writes and has a magical flow to all her books I have read. I found Before it rains Just beautifully written and showed so much love. She describes everything around her in the book in great detail and pulls you into the book especially the era. You will feel part of the story. The characters are so real and you will feel they are real people. I love India and it bought back lovely memories of smells, sounds and places I wanted to go back there.
There is a romantic element running throughout the book.
I loved this book and looking forward for Dinah's next book.
Big 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review
I just Loved it💜
Big thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review it. x

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

I’m a fan of this author so was looking forward to getting lost in Before The Rains and wasn’t disappointed.

I found this book engrossing.

One of the strengths of this book and others I’ve read by the author are the ability to completely pull you into a different era, until it becomes so real you lose sense of the real world outside the book. The word-building in this book was fantastic.

The characters are so well-written and fascinating they became like real people. For a while I was really in India, listening to the sounds, staring gob-smacked at the sights as the smells of the world wafted around me.

There is a romantic element running through the book as with other works by the author but this wasn’t solely the focus of the book.

Before The Rains is hugely enjoyable, vivid and rich in detail.

British photographer Eliza goes back to the India of her childhood, following her husband's death. She gets an assignment at the Rajputana Palace to photograph the Royal Family and meets Jay, the Raja's brother.
Eliza and Jay discover that they have a lot in common and are brought closer through their common desire of improving the local people's living conditions.
However Eliza is British and furthermore a widow... And widows are seen as bad luck in these times...
Set in the 1930's, Colonial India this is a delicate, romantic novel full of the colours and smells of India. You will find the story moorish like an indian sweet!

I have rated this a guilty 4 as whilst I love being transported to exotic locations in Dinah's books I found this one bordering on Mills and Boon in places. Having read all of her books, I found that the wonder of the historical fiction of Asia she usually creates was lost a bit to the romance - which may well suit a lot of people and certainly didn't stop me enjoying the book, I just felt it was a bit cheesy in places.
All of that said, the colours, sights and smells of India are ably conjured up in this book as is the era of colonialism.
The story deals with the cross cultural divide as Eliza a British female photographer falls for Jay, an Indian prince. We meet them as their paths cross for a second time both of them having been present many years earlier when at age 11 Eliza witnessed her father's death in a bomb blast on the streets of Dehli. Eliza has returned to India on a commission to photograph the palace and its royal inhabitants.
Jay shows Eliza India from an Indian perspective and she captures it all on film including the poverty which she uses to encourage Jay to put his power to some use.
There are many who don't want their relationship to work, not least the man who has asked Eliza to marry him! and there are twists and turns in the plot aplenty. Characters unravel and deception is uncovered and all set against the glorious backdrop of India in the 1930s.
Perfect summer reading...

A gloriously romantic book set in 1930s India - full of beautifully researched detail, intrigue and love. Highly recommended.

Dinah Jefferies never disappoints and this book is no exception.
A love story set against the back drop of India in the 1930's
It deals with all the cultural issues that were taking place at the time combined with the political issues prior to Indian independence.
Central to this is the relationship between Eliza a young widow and Jay the younger brother of the reigning Maharajah of Juraipore, Rajputanaa princely state in the Indian Empire.
It is a magical story a real page turner
Five stars all the way

What a lovely book!
I followed the story with hope that it would all work out in the end.
The setting in India was vivid and sounded amazing. The characters were intriguing, especially Jay's family, Dottie and Clifford, who I just wanted to hit! What a nasty man!
There were several moments in the book that I was ashamed of the treatment of the people of India by the British.
I loved Dinah's, Tea Planters Wife and this is a similar thread.

A fairly typical love story of love across the cultural divide.

I have read a lot of Dinah Jefferies books and love them all. I really enjoyed this book. Dinah Jefferies attention to detail and research make this book a pleasure to read. I learnt a lot about India in the early 1900s and how the British and the Indian population felt about each other. Eliza finds love in India and her story is compelling and had me captivated from the start. A really good read that I would definitely recommend.

Rather a lot of coincidences in this for me but still a good read, if sometimes a bit predictable. Dinah Jeffries writes good escapist literature set in exotic locations. Eliza is a strong and independent woman who wants to carve out a career for herself but gets caught up in the mysteries and intrigues of India. Some of the characters could do with fleshing out a bit more.

First of all, I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers, Penguin Books (UK) and Viking, for providing me with an arc copy. I'm really grateful for this opportunity. I have received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I'm currently in the mood to read romance stories and I have always enjoyed books or movies about India and/or Indian culture.

Unfortunately, this book and I did not click. After reading the first 20%, I started skim reading. In the end, I decided not to finish this book. This is not a decision I take lightly, but I don't think I would enjoy it more if I finished it.

Even though I did not finish Before the Rains, I will briefly review the part I did read.

Writing styles are a very personal thing, I've read books I really enjoyed but others really hated because of the writing style. One of these books that immediately comes to mind, is Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, which I personally loved but many of friends did not care for at all. Dinah Jefferies writing style really did not click with me, I found it too descriptive, more telling than showing. When I don't enjoy a particular writing style, it becomes a task to read a book. The last books I did not finish because of the same reasons were Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! Both novels are considered classics and master pieces but I just could not finish them. Many people do enjoy them, so the fault lies with me. I feel the same about finishing Before the Rains. This does not mean you would not be able to enjoy it. Like I mentioned before, this is a personal preference.

The descriptions in Before the Rains are very repetitive. Eliza is a photographer and describes the subjects of photo's multiple times using the same adjectives over and over. Things like this, are why the writing style annoys me.

I read books to connect with the characters, if I don't connect with any of them, I will not enjoy the book. I tried liking the characters in Before the Rains, I really did, but they all felt so flat to me. Sadly, I didn't click with any of them.

Since I did not finish this book, I do not feel comfortable rating it, so I won't. I did not click with this novel but this doesn't mean you would not enjoy it. If the plot sounds intriguing, by all means, check the book out. A writing style is a personal thing, you either enjoy it or you don't. In this case I didn't but that doesn't mean you won't. This book actually has a 4.1 rating on Goodreads, so I'm definitely in the minority of people who did not enjoy it.

I always enjoy Dinah Jefferie's books. The sights and sounds of India are brought into your front room through her words.
Eliza had witnessed the death of father when she was living in India as a child. He was killed during a protest when a bomb was thrown into a procession he was part of. Eliza and her mother returned to England but now as an adult and after the death of her husband she is offered the chance to return to India to work as a photographer taking photos of the Indian royal family.

No one seems to really want her there as she is working for the British government and they feel she could also be spying on them.
Eliza has no thoughts of falling in love as she likes being on her own with no one telling her what to do.
A forbidden love in a foreign country is not the best way to ingratiate herself with her hosts but Eliza can't help how she feels.

As always there is much more to this story than just a love affair. We see the poverty of the people and the unfairness of the British ruling a country which is not their own.
I enjoyed the book but I must admit that I did find the conclusion a bit Hollywood movie drama and doubt that it could ever happen in real life but I'm willing to be proved wrong.
Looking forward to Dinah's next book.

I have always enjoyed this writer's novels in particular the Tea Planter's Wife and whilst Before the Rains was interesting I didn't find it as stimulating. There were some really vivid descriptions of incidents within the novel but for me it was a little too focused on the romance rather than India.

Dinah Jeffries does it again!
A beautifully written story with India as its backdrop. You can feel and smell India as you read.
An insight into the British India and its rules and customs is the premise of this fabulous book together with the love story of Jay and Eliza.
Highly recommend

Before The Rains is another first class historical fiction novel written by Dinah Jefferies. I have read several of her novels and found them to be absolutely superb and this one didn't disappoint - it was fantastic. Very highly recommended.

This novel is set in 1930s India - I didn't really know anything about the history of India during this time but the author's descriptions whilst hard to read at times really bring the book to life.

The contrast between the wealthy palace and the hardship of the poor was shocking. The descriptions of the customs and culture of India at the time were heartbreaking in places. I really enjoyed the main character Eliza and was swept along with her story and the budding romance between her and Jay.

The writing and descriptions of the castle were so wonderful, I was at the castle with Eliza - the sights, sounds and smells of India came alive. The imagery is second to none. I learnt so much about the history of India, the culture and traditions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to lovers of historical fiction. Mesmerising story line with great characters. A book to get lost in. Fantastic.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Often it is said that a great novel transports the reader to another world, and this is so true of Dinah Jeffries historical romance, Before The Rains. Through the eyes of Eliza Fraser, a young English widow, who travels to India to complete a photography project, we enjoy the colour and scents and vibrancy of 1930s India. From the suffocating stuffiness of the British ruling class, to the exotic opulence of the royal palaces, to wild picnics in the desert, to the heart-wrenching poverty of the harsh lives endured by the most deprived - Jeffries wonderful descriptions draw the reader further and further into Eliza's adventure. Early on in the novel, Eliza witnesses an act that rocks her to her very core, but also helps cements her friendship with handsome Indian Prince Jay - and so begins their sensual, sweeping romance. But duty and conventions of the period are against the couple's union, ensuring plenty of twists and turns along the way. Lovers of Jeffries best selling historical fiction novels are in for yet another vivid treat.