15-year-old Rosalind is the smart and sympathetic narrator of this lovely story about a British girl coming of age in India during the push for Indian independence. The book has the feel of an old-fashioned classic, making it suitable for readers as young as 5th grade, even though it's technically YA. It's full of very interesting questions about identity (how can Rosalind follow her heart and also please her father?) and compassion (even though she's supposed to be loyal to the British crown, Rosalind understand why Indians want their independence).

I thought Rosalind's maiden aunts, Ethel and Louise, were a bit flat and stereotypical, but, as devices, they contributed nicely to the themes being explored in the story. Ethel is so firmly attached to her identity as a frugal, upright British citizen that she's unbending and unsympathetic. Louise is practically Ethel's ward, though she has the ability to strike out and follow her heart.

Some small acts of amazing courage that stood out for me: Rosalind trying to save the baby, Rosalind going to see Gandhi speak, Aunt Louise standing up to Aunt Ethel, and the young Indian boy Ravi braving cold England for his education. ( )

Teen fiction; historic fiction (India, 1908). I was not immediately impressed by the writing, laden as it was with multiple commas, sentences that ran on, and the simple observations of a pretty dull 15-year-old (adding more commas does not make you a complex character!). As the English daughter of a soldier off at war, Rosalind has led a sheltered life in India--though to her parents' dismay she keeps in touch with her childhood Indian friend and makes frequent excursions to the marketplace. Since several people have named the book as a Newbery hopeful, I made myself read at least the first 50 pages to let the story develop, and sure enough--on page 46 she rescues an untouchable baby from a cruel man who would have crippled the child to make a more plaintive beggar. For a few pages she is this struggling teen who is suddenly a caretaker of an infant; she must figure out how to clothe, feed, and keep him from being discovered by the servants and her family. Two days later she gives the babe to her new friend's orphanage (I don't know why it took her so long to think of it; the solution should have been obvious), and she immediately goes back to being a dull girl, albeit one with an equally dull, if somewhat more informed, love interest.

The story definitely suffers from Rosalind's weak voice--even considering the culture and time period she's from and the relatively sheltered childhood, she still sounds like a naive 10-year-old than a thinking, feeling 15-year-old. Maybe the story really does turn out to be amazing at the end, after Gandhi makes his appearance and Rosalind has her awakening or whatever, but it would be 10x better if the characters were stronger, sharper, and better developed. ( )

THe life of a fifteen year old Britsh girl living in India prior to India's freedom from Britian. ( )

Beautifully written, completely engaging, and absolutely delightful. ( )

Rosalind has grown up in India where her father, an English army officer, is stationed. She has never seen her home country, England, and feels a part of India. When one of her friends tells her about Gandhi, and India's wish to govern itself, she becomes interested and involved in things that cause her father to send her to live with her aunts in England. ( )