Nayana CurrimbhoyRecensioner

Part 1 of this book took forever to read. Charu was not a person I could relate to or have any respect for her. Her behaviors went from bad to worse thinking that drugs were the answer, her dislike of Pin to falling madly in love with her as her lesbian lover, her supposedly love of Merch because he was a man. Part 2 was more interesting learning about the school girls and their way of life. Liked how the girls thought they could do and solve everything. Solving the murder mystery had the potential of getting interesting but the way it was dragged out ruined it.

I cannot praise this book highly enough.
I randomly selected it from the shelf at the library. I'll admit it, the cover grabbed my attention, I loved the blurb, and from the moment I read the first page, I was hooked.
Absolutely refreshing to read something not set in America or England. Clearly I need to vary my reading a lot more, as I hadn't realised I'd fallen into such patterns.
The main character has faults, she isn't perfect, both externally and internally. She copes with a disfigurement, which is a defining feature of her. But it doesn't rule her life. Her life does not follow the pathway her family, her caste, her colleagues expect, and I think that is the greatest surprise of all.
If you don't like reading about drug use, or lesbianism, then this book isn't for you.
If you love mystery, complex characters, and chapters written from different viewpoints, and beautiful prose, then this book is for you.
Every character, minor or otherwise, comes to life between these pages. I wanted to finish it, but I didn't want it to end.
I've never been to boarding school, but it had shades of Enid Blyton tangled through some of the scenes. And as an avid childhood fan of the Famous Five, and all the other series written by Enid Blyton, I loved it even more for that aspect.
I loved it. That is all.

Miss Timmins’ School for Girls is a rather bland title for a book, with a cover photo of girls walking in the rain that seems as if it could have been taken anywhere. There’s something quite beautiful about the colours, though, and the suggestively ethnic design of the border provides our first hint of how deceptive and artificial that portrayal of ordinariness really is.

Right from the very first page we’re teased with the central mystery, and introduced in such a way that we’re immediately suspicious of the various narrators. With a teacher’s body discovered beneath a rain-swept cliff, another teacher already fleeing a scandal back home, a group of teachers too liberated to set a proper example, a story of taboo love, and a few overly curious students, the stage is set for a literary journey across the world and back in time.

For me, this was a bit of a difficult read, only because the culture (and its associated struggles) is so very foreign. There is a strong contrast between cultures, religions, and classes that is revisited throughout the story. At times, I found my fascination with the characters and their surroundings actually pulled me out of the story, forcing me to go back and reread certain passages to regain the thread of the plot. The fact that the plot seemed a bit disjointed at times likely didn’t help, but that’s not a complaint, just an observation.

I must say, the language here is lush and beautiful, almost lyrical at times. The narrative voices are very strong, authoritative, and entertaining, and yet never entirely trustworthy. Some voices had more impact than others, but it’s a style of writing that suits the mystery element very well (even if it detracts, a bit, from the cultural elements). While the main characters were very well developed, the supporting cast ran the gamut from generic to fascinating, with some existing only to advance the plot. I would have liked to see either a few less characters, or a little more time spent developing them, but that’s a minor point.

In the end, it’s the strength of Charu that carries the novel, and her development – both socially and emotionally – that kept me reading. Her story alone could have made for an interesting novel, serving as part travelogue and part romantic drama. At the same time, the mystery could very well stand alone as a much shorter novel, and might even benefit from the added focus. Somehow, though, it’s the mingling of the story lines and the genres that appealed to me most, almost (and perhaps intentionally) mirroring the mingling of cultures and classes.

All in all, an interesting read, and one that’s very well told.

A fairly quick read about a girls' school in Panchgani, India. Newcomer Charulata Apte becomes embroiled in a murder when her passionate relationship with fellow teacher Moira Prince ends in a tragic death. Secret are uncovered, the young students at the school get involved, and Charu's life is soon spiralling out of control. The characters, setting, atmosphere and writing are all brilliant, although the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll theme of the 1970s does start to drag slightly towards the end, I felt. The school, though, presumably based on the author's own experience, is is brought vividly to life, with the students and teachers trapped by the monsoons, dependant on each other for company but also divided by rank and relationship.

Felt obligated to finish this for book club. Otherwise I would have stopped reading it after 50 pages.

started out okay then plummented

This book is about a lot o things - maybe too many things. It's a kind of romance, a mystery, a comment on Indian society and a coming of age novel. Maybe it should have concentrated on the latter because both the romance and the mystery were unsatisfactory to my reading eyes.

Charulata Apte is a Brahman young woman whose family has been disgraced by a scandal involving her father when she was a young girl. The scandal has resulted in their living in reduced circumstances, as well as causing Charulata to develop a disfiguring blotch on her face, probably caused by nervous eczema. At the age of 21 she takes a job at a boarding school in a remote mountain village. The school, a holdover from the British Raj, is run by a white Presbyterian missionary. At the school Charulata finds herself drawn to the "bad girl" teacher who introduces her to sex, drugs and rock & roll. Her life seems to be opening up, but then a body is found at the bottom of a cliff and Charulata's very orderly world starts spinning out of control.

I picked this book up for the mystery, but found that the mystery was the least interesting part of the book. The author would have been better served exploring Charulata's growth as a person and exploring how upper-class Indians seem to hang on to the last vestiges of British rule, than to waste the reader's time with a most unsatisfactory mystery.

I liked this book more than I expected to based on the reviews. Set in a boarding school in India in the 1970s, this is an atmospheric novel with a strong sense of setting. Charu is a young teacher venturing from home for the first time. She has lived a sheltered life and in many ways this novel centers on her journey to figure out who she is.

Charu begins an illicit relationship with another teacher, and this combined with a murder mystery lend suspense to the novel. The "whodunit" aspect was fascinating and made it difficult to put the book down. Where the novel was lacking, however, was in its character development. While interesting, Charu was, at times, irritating in her inconsistency of thought and feeling. It was difficult to really "know" her as a character and this created a distance between character and reader.

Nonetheless, the writing was quite good, the storyline compelling, and the setting richly described (this is the novel's greatest strength). This is definitely worth the read.

I absolutely hate the way I felt about this book. The problem is, I really wanted to love it. Based on the description, and even based on the first 100 pages, I truly believed I would love it. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there and I ended up really disliking it. This makes me sad.

First of all, I really liked Charu’s character in the beginning. I felt that I understood her, in a way, because I have been there myself. When I first moved to Florida I didn’t know anyone and I started at a job where, although I was a transfer from another office in another state, I was looked at as the “new kid” who probably didn’t know anything. I definitely had a hard time fitting in at first and had to work to build friendships and relationships with my coworkers. Happily, that’s much better now, almost two years later, but my point is that I know what it’s like to be the new person in a situation and have to build relationships from scratch. It’s hard. And it was even harder for Charu because she had virtually no self-confidence because of a birthmark on her face. So when her and Prince began their friendship, I really rooted for her and I enjoyed reading about their relationship. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the two women became more than friends, I liked that Currimbhoy took a somewhat taboo topic (based on the time period and the culture the book was set in) and folded it into the story so seamlessly.

Unfortunately, that is where my positive feelings end with this novel. After the death I mentioned above, everything completely fell apart for me and I began loathing the fact that I had to pick up this book and finish it. There is a huge section in the book that is narrated by one of the girls at the school, which truly didn’t work for me. It surprised me and took me out of the story and frankly, I didn’t like this character at all. So I wasn’t happy to hear from her for such a huge part of the book.

I thought the novel was going to have more of a mystery feel, but instead it was a character study with tiny mystery aspects twisted in, and it just didn’t work for me. I do enjoy character studies when they are done well, but in this case I couldn’t care enough about Charu and the girls at the school to continue being immersed in their lives. I really wanted to find out what happened with the murder, but it felt like it just took forever to get there. Plus, the book was much too long, in my opinion (500 pages), for what it was. I felt that it dragged on and on with no end in sight, and frankly I found myself extremely bored.

I don’t mean to sound harsh. The book did have a lot of promise, and there were things about it I did like. But overall, Miss Timmins’ School for Girls was just not my cup of tea.

This book was similar in a way to a book I just read, In Search of the Rose Notes. Both were coming of age type stories set against the back drop of a mystery. In this case the book takes place in India in the 1970's. As another reviewer noted the book tends to drag on. The characters engaged in a lot of behavior I could not relate to and I was disengaged from them, not really caring what their fate was. I also did not care for the ambiguous ending. After sticking this book out for five hundred pages, I felt cheated to be left hanging by the last two pages. A lot of people seem to love this book so this may be another one where I am in the minority. I received this book as part of book club girl's online reading group. She has a discussion with the author on her blog spot radio show that you can listen to on her website right now. Although this book was not for me, I enjoyed listening to the discussion with the author Nayana Currimbhoy very much.

Even though there is a murder mystery that is central to the novel, I actually found Miss Timmins' School for Girls to be an engrossing kind of coming of age story, following 20-year old Charulata Apte as she struggles to discover the woman she is, be it a bellbottom-wearing hippie in Bombay or simply a graceful beauty like her mother. Charu occupies that awkward place where one feels (and should be) grown up and yet, feels (and often behaves) childishly.  As she leaves her parents for her first job as a teacher at a boarding school, her life turns especially tumultuous and confusing when a white teacher is murdered and she's involved.

Currimbhoy creates an evocative setting in the British all-girls school in rural Panchgani, especially the fishbowl living between students and teachers. Secrets and scandals -- large or small -- constantly threaten to be exposed, and the confusing mix of hormones, isolation, and differing social classes create an explosive brew.  Reading, I was reminded very much of other British school fiction from The History Boys to Notes on a Scandal: What Was She Thinking? to the St. Trinian's series.

In fact, literature and popular culture play a huge role in this novel, from the iconic music of the late '60s and early '70s as the soundtrack for Charu's social life to books by Nabokov (shocking and daring), Enid Blyton (the aspiration of the school), or William Golding (what the schoolgirls are really like).  As I measure my own life in music and books, this really struck a chord with me and added a sense of realism to the story and gave me a place to empathize with Charu.

I found I liked all the characters and found their stories compelling; the novel is long (and perhaps a little too long at moments) but I enjoyed the way the various story lines played out and were resolved, and I had no problem keeping everyone straight.  From the trio of mischievous students who set out to solve the mystery to Charu's extended family (and the drama that came with them), there was a feast of tensions that gave Charu and this novel the oomph that made it more than murder mystery.  I recommend this book for a long trip, when you've got many nights available to curl up and read (and don't mind waiting until the very end for the mystery to be solved!).

I enjoyed this story very much. It made lengthy airport delays and flights fly by.

Set in India, it's the story of a young Indian woman who gets a position teaching at an English school. It is a coming of age story in the generation of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It doesn't seem like it would work set in India, yet that is part of what makes it such an interesting story. In a society that is so traditional and protective of it's young women, Charu's story stands out.

Another point that made this book such a good read for me is that it's a mystery. It's not a typical "whodunit," though. There are layers of mystery that slowly come unraveled.

One mystery is never really solved. Although I'm curious, this works for me. It's like real life where we don't know everything and adds another layer to make the story real. The epilogue feels tacked on to address this, but for me it was unnecessary. Because of the passage of time, Charu had become a different person, one who no longer seemed to fit the story and the revelation seemed no more certain that anything had at the time it happened.

Over all, however, the book was excellent and one I'm happy to have in my library.

Miss Timmins' School for Girls is quite misleading. I was expecting an interesting coming-of-age story that just happens to take place in India. Instead, I found a complex novel of which a personal journey of discovery is only one small part of the overall plot. There is murder, love, intrigue, family secrets, and the ties that bind it all together. Combined with the always-fascinating backdrop of India, the result is an intriguing and seductive novel about the damage secrets can do to others and to oneself.

Charu Apte is not your typical heroine. She has big dreams but has been hampered by her birthmark, a prominent blot on her face. As a coping mechanism, she has always turned inward and stamped out any initiative in an effort to remain anonymous and invisible. She has always found it far easier to suffer in silence than to draw attention to herself. The reader gets a glimpse that things are changing for Charu with her initial position as a teacher at the British-run Miss Timmins' School For Girls. As a teacher, she can no longer hide in the shadows but rather is forced to take a stand in order to maintain control of her classroom. This is only one of many changes for Charu as she discovers love, her purpose, and her voice.

Love is a huge theme in Miss Timmins' School for Girls. Romantic love, platonic love, familial love, self-love - they drive the characters' actions and cause them to make choices that may seem surprising or unusual. Charu is the biggest recipient of these various forces as she is compelled to delineate between the various kinds of love, compartmentalize them and face the consequences of her actions, yet everyone is driven by this key factor. The main actions in the novel are a direct result of choosing one type of love over another and puts these forces into perspective for the reader.

One cannot discuss this novel without highlighting the prominent influence the setting plays in the novel. When it comes to directing the characters' actions, the setting becomes a character unto itself, as characters feel forced to act a certain way because of caste, societal influences, or even due to geography. Set in the 1970s, the prominence of drugs also plays a factor as it prevents Charu from immediate action but allows her to push aside key decisions for momentary distractions and peace. While the prevalence of drugs could have been overdone, quickly becoming cliched, Ms. Chirrumbhoy uses the drug scene to highlight the changing culture and growing awareness and deliberate ignorance of the restrictions of the caste system.

In Miss Timmins' School for Girls, Nayana Chirrumbhoy presents a fascinating study of culture in flux. British influence clashes with the caste system, which clashes with the emerging hippie/beatnik culture. At the same time, the cast of characters must maneuver their way through this evolving culture and changing social mores; Charu is just the main character to traverse this slippery trail. Ms. Chirrumbhoy wisely allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about certain plot points, thereby enhancing the reader's involvement and engagement in the story. Not to be read slowly, Miss Timmins' School for Girls rewards patient and careful readers with a complex snapshot in time of a young woman coming of age ad experiencing the conflicting pulls of the different types of love in a wildly evolving society

Thank you to NetGalley for my e-galley!

MISS TIMMINS’ SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
by Nayana Currimbhoy
9780061997747
Publisher:Harper Collins
June 21, 2011, 512 pages


Mystery lovers will discover this debut author’s fine skill as a mystery writer edgy and dramatic, but it takes a tenacious reader to find out. This novel had a slow beginning for me that would benefit from some serious edits. There is too much time and emphasis on Charulata’s family life with little relationship to the plot. The beginning is wordy and requires frequent reference for translations available in a glossary at the back of the book. However, having said that I still recommend Miss Timmins’ School for Girls
because it has a dynamic second half.

Fortunately midway the pace suddenly changes with an uplifting point of view change. Through Nanadita’s voice the author’s skill morphs into an entirely different style, adding a new spark. Like the promise of a sunny dawn it has brilliance, color and energy that emerges with the introduction of the “Rule Breakers Club”.

There are so many seemingly unrelated and insignificant characters as the story begins. It is hard to sort out the many characters within the school, the staff, the students and family. Names, names, names. At times keeping everyone straight is confusing.I found it hard to get to know most of the characters where I could empathize with them. However, Nanadita was my favorite student. At first she challenges Charulata but becomes her advocate as circumstances unravel.

It is fascinating how the author begins to superimpose a multi-layered map of everyones lives that merges into a complex novel of mystery and suspicion. “The seemingly unrelated and insignificant characters” make sense. Doubt hovers like a fine fog that settles and won’t budge. Even when the story ends you will never be too sure. A riddle that will leave the most ardent puzzle solver hanging makes Miss Timmins’ School for Girls a worthwhile read and notable debut.


© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011].

I read this on my Nook with no idea what it was about. I didn't even read a description or look at the author's name- the title itself had an air of mystery that made me want to read it. As a debut author, I believe we can definitely expect more from her.

The book is the story of a small all-girls school in Panchgani. Charu is a newcomer, forever marked by a blot on her face, who gets caught up in a story that has already been unraveling when she arrives. She has been cast out her entire life because of the blot on her face, and so she fits right in with the group of outcasts already settled in Timmins. When a murder occurs, Charu and her group are determined to not only clear their own names, but to solve the murder once and for all- for everyone's sanity.

The story itself took a while to get started. I actually forgot it was a mystery because the murder occurs about halfway through the story. The writing is lyrical, describing the land I know nothing about, but I still felt I could picture it due to her descriptions. I felt badly for Charu from the very beginning- her culture treated her so harshly that I almost felt she had no chance at all. As the murder unfolds and the story is told from multiple views, it gets increasingly complex. The writing seems to go on for a bit too long, and I actually got a little antsy for the story to move quicker- and this is rare for me since I've read 100 Years of Solitude three times and have never felt it dragged on- however I was glad I stuck it out for the 10-20 pages it went on too long. In the end, the reader is left feeling confused and a little upset at how none of the characters seemed to get what they really wanted. I realize now that this is how the characters themselves felt, so it makes perfect sense.

I'm excited to hear more from this author. I think this being a debut novel she had thrown in multiple story lines in multiple genres, covering multiple political issues. I could distinctly pick out at least three I would have liked to be their own story (a "disfigured" woman in Indian culture, a woman teacher in an all-girls school, and the murder itself). I think (and hope!) her next novel will be as complex and intriguing, with maybe just a bit more focus.

When young Charulata Apte is sent to Miss Timmins’ School for Girls as a new teacher, she is sheltered, shy and reclusive. Believing herself to be disfigured by a birthmark on her face, Charu spends a lot of her time fading into the background and observing the world from behind her dark curtain of hair. Navigating her way among the other teachers and students, Charu is suddenly swept up into a curious relationship with one of the more unconventional and wayward teachers, Ms. Moira Prince, and this relationship begins to change the reserved and quiet Charu in ways that no one can imagine. But when Moira is murdered and rumors fly through the school, Charu finds herself at the center of a controversy regarding Ms. Prince. Added to this mysterious murder is Charu’s new and unpredictable relationship with a man named Merch and the wayward drifters he spends time with, and Charu’s increasingly difficult relationship with her parents, whose hidden secrets have finally burst forth in destructive and powerful ways. In this novel of India during the 1970s, one year of boarding school mayhem and an unexpected murder is examined through the myopic lens of those who reside inside Miss Timmins’ School for Girls and the surrounding area.

I have to admit that I had a really hard time with this book for a lot of reasons. Normally I love books set in and around India, and the time period the book took place in was also a boon for me. But for some reason, the amalgamation of all these elements coupled with the plot and characters just didn’t work for me. It all came across as sort of a jumble, and I was glad to have finally turned the last page and called it quits. Stylistically, I felt this book had a lot in common with The God of Small Things, which is another read that although beloved by others, just didn’t work for me.

One of the main problems I had with the book was the sheer overabundance of characters. Each was given a brief description and then sort of disappeared from view for a while until they would make their second and third appearance and I would have forgotten every description I had read earlier. They were all just so amorphous and fuzzy, these many characters, and for some reason even the characters that weren’t given short shrift lacked subtle definition. The one character I felt that I got to know well was the protagonist, Charu, and what I knew of her, I liked. I thought her moral and mental indecision was very realistic and I grew invested in finding out what would eventually happen to her. Unfortunately, the other characters just didn’t stick with me and I was unable to form any type of connection with them, which made me feel curiously detached from the story.

I also had a problem with the plot, or really, the lack of it. I can only assume this book was meant to be a character study of Charu, because the murder of Ms. Prince was literally the only thing that happened here, and it was examined from so many angles and garnished with so many rumors that I quickly became exhausted with it. How many times can you go around and around about the same plot point without it becoming tedious? I grew to resent the fact that this crime was so all-inclusive and important to the story, and felt that the author was beating the reader over the head with the significance, repercussions and nuances of the murder. At a certain point, I didn’t care anymore, and the more it was harped on, the more I felt like I just wanted to close the book and be done with it. One significant plot point does not a book make, and though the writing was elegant and lush, I found myself becoming ever more frustrated with the way the book kept circling the same events over and over again. This is not to say that the murder was the only thing that happened in the book, but that it was the focal point for too long in in too many ways. I would have liked to have learned more about Charu and her family, or possibly have seen more information about the townsfolk that populated the area.

There were some aspects of the book that I did like even though most of it didn’t work for me. I liked the atmosphere of 1970s India during the monsoons and felt that the book drew a lot of tension and ambiance from the setting, which was pitch perfect. I also really adored the protagonist, Charu, and felt her fears and worries were very credible and understandable. The prose was tightly and expertly crafted, and I found certain sections of the book to be written with a very solid and artistic style. If not for the other problems I had with the plot and characters, this probably would have made for a tremendous reading experience for me. I can imagine that I’m probably going to be in the minority with my opinions on this book, which is fine with me, but I feel like the book could have been so much more with just a little bit of careful editing and trimming of fat.

Though I wasn’t overly fond of this book, it did have its moments and I can imagine that there are many readers out there who might like it. In spite of the difficulties I had with it, there are some scenes that stick in my mind and that I know will be hard to forget. I think this book will end up being very polarizing, with two camps forming between love and hate, and while I wouldn’t exactly say I hated it, I can say that it wasn’t at all what I had been expecting. A dark and mysterious read that although uneven was still haunting.

Let me just say that last year I may have overdosed a bit on books set in India. Some were good, some were bad, but overall they seemed to have the same melancholy, morose feel to them and I promised myself I'd lay off of them for a while.

Then I signed up for this tour. My first thought was, great, here we go again, but then I picked up the book and started reading and realized this was unlike any story set in India I'd read thus far.

The story of Charu was interesting enough - but add into the mix a murder mystery and the book takes on a new purpose and life of its own just when the story seems to start slowing down. While I could have done without some aspects of the book, the murder mystery was quite well done and moved at a solid pace.

Nayana Currimbhoy did a beautiful job of crafting a story that had memorable characters, a good sense of mystery and thrill, and just enough emotion that it had my heart aching more than a few times for the emotions the characters were experiencing.

So, in short, I'm not sorry I picked up this story set in India, and if anything, I think its given me hope and the desire to seek out more stories like it.

I read a NetGalley copy of this and I was fully prepared to like it, but it really dragged on. I just really didn't connect with any of the characters. It took forever to get to the murder and it was a real struggle for me to keep going.½

I thought this was a fantastic first novel-- well written and executed. If this is Currimbhoy's first attempt, I can't wait to read her next. The story was compelling-- a who-done-it set in 1970's small town India at a private English run boarding school-- and well drawn. The characters are numerous but intriguing. I did not expect to like the 1970's time period but it was compelling as well.

The main character, Charu, is a new teacher away from home for the first time, who becomes involved with some shady locals (hippies) and an increasingly unpopular rebel English teacher from the school. Charu's taste for love and adventure expands beyond anything she ever imagined but she finds herself torn apart after the death of her lover, Miss Prince. There is an array of suspects from the school and community and yet no easy or particularly obvious answer.

I savored this book. It's an unexpected gem!

The theme of this book appealed to me, with its setting in a small hill town in India in 1974, and an eccentric cast of characters. I like the author’s depictions of spices, food, family secrets and dynamics, different cultures and religions and the oppressive monsoon rains. The book is flawed with too many characters and some bumpy transitions from one scene to another. Charu’s friends smoke dope and are rebels, which may or may not appeal to readers.
Charu is the central character and is a young teacher new to the school. She has a passionate love affair with a female teacher there, and later an affair with a man who is a close friend.
A body is found at the bottom of a cliff. Is it murder? There are MANY suspects, arrests and a conviction. But is the right person in prison?

This is another book I have mixed feelings about. I enjoyed it, but there were a few things that got in the way of it being wonderful. My biggest issue is with the writer's obsession with Charu's facial blot. I get it. I didn't need to be pounded over the head with it. Another complaint I have is that the book could have used a little more editing. I would have given it four stars if it had been 'tightened up.' I loved the atmosphere, and the descriptions of the school and surrounding areas were a pleasure to read. I didn't mind that the point of view hopped around a bit, though I certainly would have enjoyed hearing more from Merch. He is a fascinating character. It's a first novel and I would read more from this author, especially if she gets a more thorough editor.½

Currimbhoy needs to work on her pacing and the subtlety of her plotting a little, but for a debut novel this was really surprisingly good. She has a talent for character sketches and for creating a strong narrative voice. I found the world she created—an isolated girls' boarding school in western India during the 1970s, a lingering outpost of British colonialism where the students learn Scottish dancing and are required to wear elasticated bloomers—engrossing and would have loved to see even more of it than was shown here. The ending is perhaps telegraphed a little soon (at the heart of Currimbhoy's examination of gender and colonialism, families and sexuality, is a murder mystery) but I still found it well worth the read. Recommended.

This book is a murder mystery wrapped up in a book about a girls' boarding school in the mountains of India. Miss Timmins' School is heavy on colonialist ideology, and becomes the scene of fear and intrigue when a teacher is murdered. Told through the eyes of a teacher, Charu, and a student, Nandita, the reader follows their efforts to discover what really happened to teacher Moira Prince.

Charu is a new teacher, living away from home for the first time and experiencing her first love. At Miss Timmins she relishes the freedom of independence and makes friends with a group of local hippies. She is particularly tied to Moira Prince, well-known bad girl at the school, and Charu's first love. Their romantic relationship is always charged by Charu's fear that she will be found out.

The book is a bit slow in the first section, particularly in the development of Charu and Moira's love affair. Once the murder investigation began the book quickly gained speed. This is a beautifully-written book, a suspenseful mystery with the style and depth of literary fiction. The book is perhaps a bit longer than it needs to be, but it was a very engaging read.½

Miss Timmins' School for Girls is intense! It's a complicated romance ensnared with a murder (suicide?) scandal. Churu a new teacher at Miss Timmins' School. Outwardly, she tries to fit in with the other missionaries. She wears her clothes properly and has civilized tea. After dark Charu finds drugs and friendship with a troubled, misfit teacher named Moira Prince. When Moira is murdered the school community is a whirlwind of chaos. After some time, witnesses put Charu with Moira right before her death. Did she do it? When a shocking love affair is revealed the story becomes more complicated. When a birth mother is revealed the story takes another twist. It keeps twisting until the very end.