We were all fascinated by this novel based on the life of Tan Yunxian, a woman doctor from 15th Century China during the Ming dynasty. What an extraordinary woman, with an extraordinary grandmother who inspired and taught her virtually all she knew about midwifery and childbirth in China, where medicine and science were well ahead…

We had a great discussion about this unusual book and its author. We all agreed that she is a gifted, original writer, who managed, in this particular novel, to capture the extraordinary tapestry, turbulence and vastness of India through many of its marginalised, ostracised and outcast people.  The novel covers decades of 'modern' post-colonial India,…

We had a fruitful and interesting discussion about this unusual book. As with most books there were those of us who thoroughly enjoyed it and others who were less keen. The majority of the group found the vivid descriptions of the countryside, at harvest time in South West England during the heat- wave of 1989,…