Himalayan Passage

Jean Smith
iUniverse (2008)
ISBN 9780595486502
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (4/09)

Author Jean Smith tells her audience right in the beginning that this novel is a work of fiction, yet it also contains some facts that have been gathered over the years. The author’s ability to describe the era of the sixteenth-century in the Himalayas is incredible- readers can feel they have been transported in time.

The main character, Tara, is forced to marry a sultan and is transported away from her home and family. She is not the only wife- each other wife is one of a different religion and region. Although it is custom to have other wives, the sultan Ibrahim is fixated with Tara and her beauty. It is also known that when a new wife comes into the family she is given all the attention and the others become jealous. This is no exception.

As the sultan prepares for war from other sultans and devious members of his army, Tara finds her life and that of their son in danger. There is no one she can really trust and she has to send her infant son away for his own safety.

I thought author Jean Smith did a great job in incorporating facts about religion, various regions and customs throughout this book, “Himalayan Passage.” The detail added more intrigue into the story line. She did not flower the facts- she addressed both the good and the bad during this time frame.

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