Sujata Massey: The Mistress of Bhatia House
Perveen Mistry #4
The much anticipated return of Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry is well worth the wait. It opens with this wonderful sentence: “Sisters will fight. It’s true whether they are raised together or meet as sisters-in-law in a joint family household.” It sets the tone and theme for the novel, which is about the power of female connection. And murder, of course.
Perveen the only female lawyer in 1920’s Bombay, lives with her family after a disastrous marriage. As the book opens, she’s attending a fund-raising party for a new women’s hospital at Bhatia House. Her sister-in-law and former best friend, Gulnaz, has just given birth to the family’s first granddaughter, and she cannot attend. In her stead, Perveen is bringing Gulnaz’s donation.