Dignity is a beautifully written, emotion book that I know will stay with me for a long time. As the name suggests it explores the concept and meaning of the word dignity in two different times and places. It was very poignant to see how dignity and the loss of it can affect people.

The story centers around three women, elderly Magda, her career Susheela and Susheela’s mother Evelyn who travels to India to get married but ends up very unhappy when it doesn’t fulfill her expectations. Their stories are told in alternate chapters and while I did find all of them interesting I didn’t perhaps enjoy Evelyn’s story as much as it was exceptionally sad. I did enjoy watching Magda and Susheela’s relationship develop throughout the book. It was wonderful to watch them get close and be a comfort to each other.

The descriptions in this book are very vivid and helps the reader to picture the setting as if they are actually there experiencing everything first hand. This is especially true of the descriptions of colonial India, which has always held a lot of intrigue for me anyway. I felt I could see all the colours, feel the sun and even smell the spices in some cases.

This book is very enthralling read and I felt utterly absorbed into the women’s lives as I read. I quickly warmed to all of the woman and felt great sympathy for them. I felt involved in their lives, feeling everything that they were feeling meaning I was often in tears whilst reading. I always think it takes great skill for a writer to make you feel so strongly about a character that you actually cry whilst reading their story.

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Gigi from W&N books for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Really moving story of three different generations of women. The way the story is told is so beautiful and you find yourself relating to all the women despite the generational differences.

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've been procrastinating on this review for a few days because I always seem to struggle more when writing positive reviews. I know I'm not alone in this but it's weird, is it human nature to focus more on the negative? When I like something I tend to be quite effusive about it but "BUY THIS BOOK OMG IT'S SO GOOD" is a little less thoughtful than "I struggled with the characterisation". Perhaps it's because we tend to be more thoughtful when critiquing someone elses work? Anyhoo, I digress.

So, Dignity by Alys Conran. What's it all about? This story follows three different viewpoints:

- Evelyn, a newly married woman living in colonial India.

- Magda, Evelyn's daughter an elderly woman living in present day Britain.

- Susheela, a young college student who also works as a carer for Magda.

Each point of view is distinctive and you really get a feel for each of the characters and their unique personalities. Usually in these kinds of novels I prefer one character over the others but with this book I loved them all. LOVED.

Each of the three characters experience their own struggles. Evelyn suffers isolation and homesickness as she struggles to adapt to life in India under the Raj. Susheela has to look after her widowed father, juggling work, college and a PTSD affected ex boyfriend, and Magda is having to face the ghosts of her past and in doing so keeps people at a distance by being as caustic and difficult as possible.

There's a lot to love in this book. The descriptions of colonial India are beautiful and sumptuous and the realities of life under the Raj are explored for both Evelyn and also the native Indian population. In Susheela and Magda's timeline there are echoes of the impact of Brexit and a resurgence in far right ideology and the increasing casual acceptance of racism. The realities of poverty, debt, life in a seaside town and insecure employment are also explored as Susheela states:

The enduring scars of war, trauma, mental illness, child loss, abortion and spousal abuse are also explored sensitively. Despite some of the difficult themes in this book, there is also joy and love to be found. Strong female friendships play a huge role and if you aren't crying by the end you're even more hard hearted than I am.

This is a beautiful, wonderful novel and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this author going forward. Buy it!

Oh how I loved this story! I feel so lucky to have been given the chance to read it. From 1930s India in the time of the Raj, to modern day England in the time of the referendum on leaving the EU, we follow the lives of three women, Evelyn, Magda and Susheela. I knew within a couple of pages that I was in for a real treat., and I carried the book around me for the following week, snatching bites whenever I could. I really cared about what happened to all three characters and I will miss them now that I’m finished the book. Alys Contan writes so beautifully, I hadn’t come across her work before but will most certainly be looking out for her in the future.
Dignity has shot into my top books of the year and will not be moving!
Thanks to Netgally for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A powerful story of race, class, culture and what it means to be “home”.

I love stories set in a different time and place, stories that captivate me and transport me to another world. If they are thought-provoking and challenge me to reconsider my beliefs and assumptions, so much the better. Dignity is certainly a book that ticks those boxes.

Dignity is set partly in British India in the 1940’s during the dying days of the Raj and partly in the present day. It’s a powerful story dealing with race, class, culture and what it means to be “home”.

The story is told through three main characters from different generations; Magda, Susheela and Evelyn. Each character has a very distinctive, authentic voice and the part of the book set in India under British rule almost feels like it could have been a separate book in its own right, so different is the style.

Dignity depicts very clearly life within the Raj. My grandfather lived in India in the 1940’s and I have heard many stories about life there at that time which crossmatch perfectly with the descriptions in this book. It gives a real sense of the privilege but also strict social order that the wives and children of British officials lived under.

Magda is the central character, appearing in both parts of the book. Her childhood in British India was tightly constrained by what was deemed proper by colonial society. When she is sent “Home” to school, Magda struggles dreadfully to fit in and is teased by the other children and even the teachers for her lack of independence after growing up surrounded by servants.

In the present day, Magda is struggling to come to terms with the loss of independence that comes with old age. Highly educated and a successful scientist, Magda has strong ideas about how things should be done but is no longer able do it and is forced to sit and watch her once immaculate home crumble and decay around her. She is reliant on carers but her sharp tongue and stubbornness make her unpopular with them.

Susheela is a student who is funding her studies by working part-time as a carer. She has recently lost her mother, her father has fallen apart, she has just found out that she is pregnant and her boyfriend has left her. Life is not going well.

On the surface, she and Magda seem to have little in common. They are worlds apart in terms of generation, class and culture. However, an unlikely friendship develops between the two women.

Evelyn is Magda’s mother. When we first meet her, she is a young newlywed on her way to join her husband, a British official, in India. When she arrives, she is overwhelmed by all the new rules and constraints of colonial society but she is full of hope and optimism for married life.

However, Evelyn’s husband very quickly shows his true colours and Evelyn discovers that she is trapped far from home with a man whom she despises. Life in India wears her down and Evelyn herself notes that there are two versions of her – Evelyn Roberts, the bright, warm-hearted young school teacher and Mrs Benedict Worsal Compton, the cold, bitter, lonely Memsahib.

The three women’s stories are tightly woven together and there are strong parallels between them. The theme of dignity repeats again and again in all of the stories and through all of the characters, not just the three central women.

Dignity is a thought-provoking, powerful read which will stay with you long after you have closed the final page.

Reviewed by Louise Chamberlain for The Glass House Book Club

This is not an uplifting read, but it is a good one. A though subject, not an uplifting read but it's one that leaves a mark on you for sure.
As much as I disliked the subject of the book, I liked the characters.

Outstanding. This book grabbed me instantly and held me totally captive, start to finish. An extremely hard read to follow!