THE KASHMIR SHAWL by Rosie Thomas (fiction)

I picked this novel up on a whim, thinking it would be a good beach book, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I think the title is unfortunate because Rosie Thomas is more than the labeled romance writer.  I haven't read any of her other 20 or so novels, but when I read a bit more about the author, I discovered that she is an adventurer who has travelled all over the world and is personally acquainted with the Himalayas and the countries which they surround.  Her settings are places she has traveled to and familiar with.

The story is set in both Wales and Kashmir, and moves back and forth between 1939 on the eve of WWII and current day.  It is mainly about a Welch woman, Nerys Watkins and her Presbyterian missionary husband, Evan, who go out to a small isolated village in Kashmir to preach the gospel. The isolated village of Leh is cut off from the outside world for half of the year by the mountain snows and severe weather.  When her husband decides to trek further into the mountainous regions, he convinces Nerys to move with friends to the safer haven of Srinagar, a beautiful lakeside city where a British garrison is housed with a large population of Europeans.

Fast forward to current day, and Nerys' granddaughter, Mair, when cleaning out the family home in Northern Wales, finds a beautiful Pashmina shawl with intricate embroidery wrapped in tissue along with a lock of light brown hair.  When no one in the family appears to know its origin or story of why it has been kept so carefully, Mair decides to track down the mystery and perhaps discover something more about her grandparents.  Being at loose ends with time to spare, Mair travels to Kashmir to begin her detective work.  She brings with her an old photo of Nerys and two other  unidentified woman smiling on the deck of a houseboat.  It is the story of these three woman who lived in Kashmir at a time when India and Pakistan were about to receive independence and Kashmir was caught between their ambitions which continues to this day.

Thomas writes well and has woven enough history into the story to make the book more interesting than just a romantic tale. The ending will surprise as well, and the shawl ties the story of Nerys and Mair together.  Mair recognizes this is no ordinary pashmina like the machine-made ones we see in department today.  This shawl was lovingly crafted and has a story of its own.  Even today, in an interview, the author tells us that similar hand crafted shawls cost well over $1000.

I enjoyed the book more than I imagined I would, and though some situations were contrived, it is a good escapism read with enough meat to the story to make it interesting.