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Start giftingThe Splendor of Silence
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Learn moreFrom internationally bestselling author Indu Sundaresan comes a heartrending tale of tragic love and clashing cultures in World War II India.
In 1942, Sam Hawthorne, a young US Army captain, arrives in a tiny princely state in western India. He carries combat wounds and several secrets, one of which is the real reason behind his visit: to find his brother Mike, an idealistic American soldier who disappeared after joining the local struggle for independence from the British. But Sam's mission is soon threatened when he falls in love with Mila, daughter of the local political agent.
Betrothed to the local prince, Mila draws Sam into a doomed affair that places them both in the path of dynastic intrigue, racial prejudice, and the explosive circumstances of a country torn between imperialism and nationalism.
Indu Sundaresan was born in India to a long line of storytellers. After an undergraduate degree in economics, she came to the United States for graduate school at the University of Delaware, where her passion for writing soon took over. Her first novel, The Twentieth Wife, was awarded the 2003 Washington State Book Award.
Sneha Mathan is a voice actor and audiobook narrator. Her audiobook work has received several Earphones awards, and she is a three-time Audie Award finalist. She lives in Seattle.
Reviews
“There’s no question that Sundaresan is a gifted storyteller with an obvious passion for history.”
“Sundaresan unfolds her bittersweet story in flashbacks that are full of sharply drawn details and adroit dialogue. It’s a riveting read.”
“The reader is drawn into the political unrest of the anti-British movement and confronted by the bitter racial prejudices in India at this time. Story narrator Sneha Methan provides just the right dialect to distinguish each character…The captivating story presents…a narrative propelled by mystery and suspense that is sure to interest both teens and adults.”
“Sundaresan renders Rudrakot vividly and the sympathetic (if doomed) characters generate enough friction to keep the pot boiling.”
“Sundaresan writes in the great tradition of the Indian epic, an art she carries forward with grace and brilliance.”
“Sundaresan’s descriptive writing style makes for a colorful, engrossing read, and while the story does hop between time periods and locations, the reader is never lost along the way. Similar in story line to Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook, this book is recommended for all libraries.”
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