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!

Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for allowing me to read an ARC of Sunbirds by Penelope Slocombe.

This novel set between India and Scotland follows Anne and Esther as they search for Anne's son, who went missing in India seven years before.

Throughout the story, readers become fully immersed into the surroundings and sublime scenery of the mountains of India, the towns, the cities, the roads, the animals. Slocombe's writing is truly remarkable.

Slocombe deftly empathises with the parents of missing children, and the feeling of never knowing what happened to them. I can barely put into words how emotional and extraordinary this book was.

There is so much discussion of ethics, spirituality, selfishness, the need for self discovery. People are complex, and so is the world we live in. Are we parts of a puzzle, or is it more important for us to find our own way? And what happens to the people who get left behind?