Anne is on a quest to find her son, missing from a town in India near the foothills of the Himalayas since he was eighteen, seven years ago. This is an area where many young people also disappeared in the late 1990s.

Anne is estranged from her husband who believes their son died a long time ago. She begins yet another journey to seek her son after a tip-off given to her niece Esther, with whom she has always had a fractured relationship. Anne and Esther’s story was genuinely touching. I grew to understand both of their characters and thought them well drawn.

Despite the dark nature of the story, this is really a love story and love song to India, its people, to the Himalayas and surrounding region, although the author certainly acknowledges its darker side, poverty and exploitation.

I really enjoyed Sunbirds and found the author’s style of writing thoughtful and measured. Although I felt everybody spoke the same way; even the Tibetan Guide sounded exactly the same as Anne, Esther and Robert who are Scottish. Some differing speech patterns or attempt at replicating dialects would have made the characters distinct and more authentic. This did not take away from my enjoyment of the book and resulting fascination about ‘India syndrome’, the Hippie Trail, ashrams and cults. I need to read more about all!

I think the ending may frustrate some readers, however I was satisfied and thought it fitted well with the arc of the story which is about acceptance, forgiveness and resolution.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Intensely felt story as we’re drawn into the unsettled lives of the main characters. Each carries with them a sense of not having been enough despite their best intentions and having to try to come to terms with accepting that this doesn’t make them less of a person. Unanswered questions at the end simply reflect that this is what real life is like.

This novel transported me to India and the overwhelming culture shock that awaits any western visitor - the noise, the colour, the sheer strangeness of it all.

This is a novel filled with tension between the characters. The background story is gradually revealed as each character is developed in short chapters that left me wanting to know more.

For me the strongest theme of the book was Anne's insecurity as a mother, her conflicting emotions and her feeling that she was not good enough.

For me the most engrossing part of the book is the trek through the mountains by Anne and Esther, accompanied by their Indian guide. The Himalaya comes alive on the page, the trek is arduous and Anne and Esther are physically and emotionally challenged at every step.

Lots of loose threads remain, but that is no bad thing. The reader, the author and indeed the characters themselves could not predict where life will take them, so we are left to imagine.

A stunning debut. I devoured Sunbirds in two sittings and was completely drawn into the world that Penelope Slocombe described so vividly. The characters are so real and the setting so vivid I was completely blown away. I've never been to India yet the places in the novel came to life for me and not in the usual way we see in films but more authentically. The author writes with so much meaning it felt like I had known the characters for years. The insights into motherhood resonated with me and also that feeling of other relationships and of owing things to people of perhaps not being as free as we think we are. I look forward to reading the author's future works!