M. M. Kaye (1908–2004)
Auteur van Het verre paradijs
Over de Auteur
M. M. Kaye was born on August 21, 1908 in Simla, India to British parents. She wrote numerous books during her lifetime including Death Walks in Kashmir, Later than You Think, Shadow of the Moon, Trade Wind, The Far Pavilions, The Sun in the Morning, Golden Afternoon, and Enchanted Evening. She toon meer also wrote and illustrated children's books including The Ordinary Princess. She died on January 29, 2004 at the age of 95. (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder
Reeksen
Werken van M. M. Kaye
House of Shade Omnibus: Death in Zanzibar, Death in Andamans, and, Death in Kashmir (1959) 15 exemplaren
[Unknown works] 2 exemplaren
Insel im Sturm 1 exemplaar
Potter Pinner Meadow 1 exemplaar
BLACK BRAMBLE WOOD 1 exemplaar
Gerelateerde werken
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Officiële naam
- Kaye, Mary Margaret
- Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten
- Kaye, Mollie
- Geboortedatum
- 1908-08-21
- Overlijdensdatum
- 2004-01-29
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- UK
- Geboorteplaats
- Simla, India
- Plaats van overlijden
- Lavenham, Suffolk, England, UK
- Woonplaatsen
- India
Kenya
Zanzibar
Egypt
Cyprus
Germany (toon alle 7)
Pevensey, Sussex, England, UK - Beroepen
- historical novelist
mystery writer
illustrator
autobiographer - Relaties
- Kaye, Sir John William (grandfather's cousin)
- Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- Colonel James Tod International Award, Maharana Mewar Foundation (2003)
- Korte biografie
- Mary Margaret ("Mollie") Kaye was born in India into a family of military officers and statesmen that had served the British government for many generations. Sir John William Kaye, one of her grandfather's cousins, was Political Secretary of the India Office and the author of the classic histories of the Indian Mutiny and the First Afghan War. Another cousin, Edward Kaye, commanded a battery at the 1857 Siege of Delhi and was later made a Lieutenant General. Mollie Kaye was born in Simla, the summer capital of the Raj, and spent the cool months of the year living in Delhi. In her obituary, the Guardian said, "[S]he was raised by servants, speaking Hindustani before English, while playing around gun emplacements and dodging her ayah to listen to storytellers in the Delhi bazaar. Like Kipling's Kim, she thought herself Indian, 'just a member of a different caste in a land of castes'. " After education at boarding school in England, Mollie returned to India. In 1945, she married Major-General Goff Hamilton of Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides; the couple had two daughters. Her husband's military postings took Mollie all over the world, and she juggled her duties as a mother and an officer's wife with her writing under the pen name M.M. Kaye. Her 3-volume autobiography is called Share of Summer and comprises The Sun In The Morning (1990), Golden Afternoon (1997), and Enchanted Evening (1999).
Leden
Discussies
April 2022: M. M. Kaye in Monthly Author Reads (juli 2022)
Besprekingen
Adorable, sweet story. Perfect ending. Enjoyed very much. Nice to take a step back into this age-genre. I'll be sure my daughter reads it, too!
There's a lot to say about The Far Pavilions, but here's the crux of it for me: it's a decent book that has the potential to be a great book, but the protracted emphasis on a badly-developed romance takes a lot away from it.
Don't get me wrong, the book has merit. It's a gripping story right from the start--I felt immediately invested in the protagonist, Ash, and his surrogate mother, Sita, and could not put the book down until I knew what happened to them. Once the narrative gets its traction, it doesn't slow down (with one notable exception, which I'll get to later). It's a 955-page novel, and I finished it in a week.
It also beautifully evokes the time and place in which it is set. I think that's the novel's greatest strength: it brings the India of the 1860's - 1870's to life by weaving together fictional elements with historical events, cultural/religious traditions, and geographical details. It's the richness of those details and the complex portrayal of historical events that make this book worth reading. For example, I was surprised by how the novel treated the British colonization of India--how through Ash (who, because of his situation, has "one foot in each camp") we see the systemic violence and arrogance of colonization, the way in which it damages the colonized country/peoples; but we also see the inherent humanity of the colonizers. That same complexity is brought to bear on other historical events throughout the book, and that is the book's great strength.
That being said, the book also has a great and glaring weakness: the aforementioned badly-developed romance. If the rest of the book is complex, the romance is quite the opposite. And the problem is, the romance isn't just bad, it's lengthy. The narrative spends a good two-thirds of its time on "developing" this angst-ridden romance between Ash and his childhood friend, Anjuli ("Juli" for short). It's a shallow, melodramatic affair that would only be a minor drawback if it weren't so damn long. But because the book spends so much time on it, it's impossible to ignore it and focus on other (far more interesting) events. This is where the story dragged the most for me.
Worse than that, their relationship is... well, gross, for lack of a better term. At best it's highly unhealthy, and at worst it's downright abusive. In practically every scene they have together, Ash gets physically domineering and abusive with Juli (the number of times he's described as shaking her by the shoulders until her teeth rattle would actually be laughable if it weren't horrible). He thinks and speaks a great deal about how much he loves her, and then proceeds to treat her with little to no respect. Ash is definitely at his worst in his scenes with Juli, and their relationship marred my experience with the rest of the book. Individually, they're both interesting characters, but together... yikes.
As I said at the beginning, it's a decent book that, were it not for the badly done romance, could have been a great book. It's a worthwhile read if you can stomach the romance.
… (meer)
Don't get me wrong, the book has merit. It's a gripping story right from the start--I felt immediately invested in the protagonist, Ash, and his surrogate mother, Sita, and could not put the book down until I knew what happened to them. Once the narrative gets its traction, it doesn't slow down (with one notable exception, which I'll get to later). It's a 955-page novel, and I finished it in a week.
It also beautifully evokes the time and place in which it is set. I think that's the novel's greatest strength: it brings the India of the 1860's - 1870's to life by weaving together fictional elements with historical events, cultural/religious traditions, and geographical details. It's the richness of those details and the complex portrayal of historical events that make this book worth reading. For example, I was surprised by how the novel treated the British colonization of India--how through Ash (who, because of his situation, has "one foot in each camp") we see the systemic violence and arrogance of colonization, the way in which it damages the colonized country/peoples; but we also see the inherent humanity of the colonizers. That same complexity is brought to bear on other historical events throughout the book, and that is the book's great strength.
That being said, the book also has a great and glaring weakness: the aforementioned badly-developed romance. If the rest of the book is complex, the romance is quite the opposite. And the problem is, the romance isn't just bad, it's lengthy. The narrative spends a good two-thirds of its time on "developing" this angst-ridden romance between Ash and his childhood friend, Anjuli ("Juli" for short). It's a shallow, melodramatic affair that would only be a minor drawback if it weren't so damn long. But because the book spends so much time on it, it's impossible to ignore it and focus on other (far more interesting) events. This is where the story dragged the most for me.
Worse than that, their relationship is... well, gross, for lack of a better term. At best it's highly unhealthy, and at worst it's downright abusive. In practically every scene they have together, Ash gets physically domineering and abusive with Juli (the number of times he's described as shaking her by the shoulders until her teeth rattle would actually be laughable if it weren't horrible). He thinks and speaks a great deal about how much he loves her, and then proceeds to treat her with little to no respect. Ash is definitely at his worst in his scenes with Juli, and their relationship marred my experience with the rest of the book. Individually, they're both interesting characters, but together... yikes.
As I said at the beginning, it's a decent book that, were it not for the badly done romance, could have been a great book. It's a worthwhile read if you can stomach the romance.
… (meer)
Come ho scritto a suo tempo nello scegliere Padiglioni lontani la mia più grande paura era quella di trovarmi a leggere un romanzo con un punto di vista colonialista, visto che l’autrice proveniva da una famiglia con stretti legami con l’impero anglo-indiano e abbia vissuto diversi anni in India.
Per fortuna, in gran parte si trattava di una paura ingiustificata. Gli unici momento in cui Kaye mi ha infastidito il mio culo bianco sono quelli nei quali professa le opportunità della collaborazione tra culture diverse (in questo caso quella inglese con quelle presenti in India), dimenticando che il Regno Unito non era andato in India per collaborare e che i rapporti tra i due popoli non possono essere ridotti a relazioni tra persone. L’idea che tutto sarebbe andato meglio scremando persone violente e razziste mi è sembrata molto naïf.
Accanto a questa ingenuità, però, c’è un ritratto dell’India e della sua complessità davvero molto interessante, dettato evidentemente da un grande amore per questa nazione. C’è molto rispetto per le sue tradizioni e questo fa sì che non vengano risparmiate delle stoccate agli aspetti che non funzionano, ma senza opporre una presunta superiorità inglese (che per Kaye non esiste, visto che diversi esponenti del Regno Unito non fanno una bella figura).
Per il resto la storia ha un gusto epico ed è di quelle che divori perché ti affezioni ai vari personaggi (pure ai cavalli, in effetti) e devi assolutamente sapere al più presto come evolveranno le loro vite. È di quei mattoni che non fanno pesare il loro numero di pagine, pieni di avventura, amore (meno di quanto pensassi, e per fortuna, perché la prima notte di passione tra Ash e Juli è una delle cose più creepy che abbia mai letto e pare uscita dal più brutto degli Harmony), intrighi, amicizie e eroismo. Se adesso avete lunghe giornate da passare a casa, direi che Padiglioni lontani può essere un buon libro da recuperare (adesso edito da E/O).… (meer)
Per fortuna, in gran parte si trattava di una paura ingiustificata. Gli unici momento in cui Kaye mi ha infastidito il mio culo bianco sono quelli nei quali professa le opportunità della collaborazione tra culture diverse (in questo caso quella inglese con quelle presenti in India), dimenticando che il Regno Unito non era andato in India per collaborare e che i rapporti tra i due popoli non possono essere ridotti a relazioni tra persone. L’idea che tutto sarebbe andato meglio scremando persone violente e razziste mi è sembrata molto naïf.
Accanto a questa ingenuità, però, c’è un ritratto dell’India e della sua complessità davvero molto interessante, dettato evidentemente da un grande amore per questa nazione. C’è molto rispetto per le sue tradizioni e questo fa sì che non vengano risparmiate delle stoccate agli aspetti che non funzionano, ma senza opporre una presunta superiorità inglese (che per Kaye non esiste, visto che diversi esponenti del Regno Unito non fanno una bella figura).
Per il resto la storia ha un gusto epico ed è di quelle che divori perché ti affezioni ai vari personaggi (pure ai cavalli, in effetti) e devi assolutamente sapere al più presto come evolveranno le loro vite. È di quei mattoni che non fanno pesare il loro numero di pagine, pieni di avventura, amore (meno di quanto pensassi, e per fortuna, perché la prima notte di passione tra Ash e Juli è una delle cose più creepy che abbia mai letto e pare uscita dal più brutto degli Harmony), intrighi, amicizie e eroismo. Se adesso avete lunghe giornate da passare a casa, direi che Padiglioni lontani può essere un buon libro da recuperare (adesso edito da E/O).… (meer)
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- Werken
- 31
- Ook door
- 7
- Leden
- 8,311
- Populariteit
- #2,904
- Waardering
- 4.1
- Besprekingen
- 216
- ISBNs
- 328
- Talen
- 15
- Favoriet
- 37
DEATH IN KENYA —
In Death in Kenya young Victoria Caryll returns to a family estate in the Kenyan Rift Valley as it recovers from a bloody Mau Mau uprising. Eden Debrett is the man who left her for Alice. But Alice's murder will bring mystery and danger to the lush and romantic locale in this atmospheric M.M. Kaye tale.
DEATH IN ZANZIBAR —
Death in Zanzibar is a sentimental favorite of mine. It has a light and entertaining feel to the overall story and a very likable heroine in Dany Ashton. The characters are colorful and well-defined, and they blend perfectly with the time period. Death in Zanzibar very much feels like it belongs in another era, and takes you there like a time machine.
Lash is a young man-about-town, when young men-about-town were in every mystery. He slowly comes into his own while helping Dany perpetrate a ruse during their trip to Zanzibar and the House of Shade. The mystery of why her hotel room was broken into and her passport stolen deepens when a murder occurs. And then there is more.
Dany is sweet and endearing as she shows old-fashioned bravado during the course of the mystery. She will emerge from her mother's shadow and come into her own just as Lash does. There is, of course, an innocent and growing romance between the two. The reader knows how this will end long before they do, which is part of the old -fashioned charm of the read.
Kaye makes wonderful use of the exotic locale as we see it through the eyes of her heroine, who is also seeing it for the first time. While the beauty of the descriptive prose doesn’t reach the level of Death in Cyprus, it’s still quite lovely — this is M.M. Kaye, after all — and filled with charm because we as readers we are seeing it through the eyes of another.
Death in Zanzibar, while a bit lean, is a very fun and entertainingly old-fashioned mystery, with the values and mores of a bygone era. All of Kaye's mysteries fit this bill and this one is perhaps my sentimental favorite. If you're searching for something intricate and complex, this isn't for you, but if you like your mystery and romance firmly ensconced on the old-fashioned side, you will enjoy this greatly, just as I did.
DEATH IN CYPRUS —
M.M. Kaye set this most enjoyable mystery novel in an enchanting Cyprus that Kaye realized was too good to last. Years later when memories of places like Kyrenia had begun to fade, she made the sun shine one last time on the Cyprus she had seen and experienced in this marvelous mystery-romance.
Those who love the scope and beauty of Kaye's grander, heftier works will find much to love in this old-fashioned mystery and romance set in an exotic locale. M. M. Kaye made sure the sun would never truly set on exotic places such as Port Said, Fayid, Limassol, Nicosia and Kyrenia with Death in Cyprus.
Sunlit garden verandas, dinner tables overlooking a crystal sea of jade and emerald, and the breeze from silver-gray olive trees are described in such a manner you can almost see the former, and taste the latter like a fresh purple grape from the vineyards of Nicosia. The setting is ripe for romance and danger, and Kaye brings them together in Death in Cyprus, one of her finest mysteries. You will feel as though you have enjoyed a vacation fraught with excitement and adventure upon finishing this most charming and old-fashioned mystery. While you could say that of all of her mysteries, it is especially true of Death in Cyprus.
Young and lovely twenty-year-old Amanda Derrington boards the S.S. Orantares and begins to meet the people who will play an important part in her life in ways she could not have imagined. Before she leaves the ship for a stay in beautiful Cyprus a murder occurs which will reach the white-walled houses of Cyprus, shining bright against the sea. Due a cabin mix-up, only Amanda, and Stephen Howard — a painter who carries a gun and may be more than he seems to be — know that the death of Julia Blaine was actually murder, and not a suicide.
The romance of Stephen and Amanda — or Amarantha as he calls her — is a very-old fashioned one born of danger and mystery. It is the kind of romance and mystery that recalls the best of Hitchcock's British films, and very much has that feel. Jealousy and romantic strife all come into play as just beneath the surface smiles, much is going on.
Amanda is befriended by more than one person while having doubts about Stephen, and what his real purpose is in all this. A moonlight kiss only complicates matters, as will a second, unexpected murder, and an attempt on Amanda's life while in Kyrenia.
There is a terrific ending filled with both adventure and romance. It’s unlikely you will guess the killer, or the motive; Kaye has deftly given us the clues, however. The last few moments of Death in Cyprus are fraught with danger and excitement. Just when the reader believes all has been revealed, Kaye pulls the rug out from under the reader’s feet.
A fine and vividly realized assortment of characters enliven Death in Cyprus almost as much as the exquisitely described exotic locales. Grand beauty and old-fashioned romance amidst an ever-growing danger do the rest, making Death in Cyprus, and this entire collection, a memorable mystery romance rich and evocative of another time and place, and a different style of writing.… (meer)