Promo: The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett
Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Ann Bennett to Ruins & Reading. We're sharing an enticing excerpt from her fabulous new novel, The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu.
I'm also in the process of reading this fascinating novel, so keep an eye out for my review, coming soon!
The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Make sure to check out all the other fascinating posts here!
Excerpt:
Prologue
There was little natural light in the cell-like room, tucked away in the back of an ancient building in the maze of narrow, cobbled streets in the heart of old Kathmandu. Despite that, Devisha had the sense that daylight was fading quickly outside, and that darkness would soon envelop the neighbourhood.
It had been quiet that day. But the usual mix of people had made their way through the backstreets and alleyways to her door, crossed the outer chamber lit only by flickering candles, and drawn back the velvet curtain that divided Devisha’s alcove from the chamber. As they did every day, they had sat down opposite her with their timid, hopeful faces, extended their palms across the table, raised their eyes tentatively to hers before she dropped her gaze to read the future mapped out in their lines. The Line of Life, the Line of Fate, the Line of Heart, the Line of Fortune. The mounts of Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, Mercury and Venus. Devisha knew every permutation of every line intimately, as well as what they signified.
Today had been much like every other day. There had been the young daughter of a rice farmer from Nagarkot who had arrived with her mother. They'd walked the length of the Kathmandu valley to Devisha’s rooms. They wanted to be sure that the girl’s chosen betrothed was auspicious, and to get Devisha’s advice on the best date to set the wedding. There had been the old, stooping carpenter from Bodinath, his brow furrowed with worry. His business was failing as well as his health. He’d asked if things would pick up in the future. Then, there had been the middle-aged woman from Thamel who’d already lost three babies in childbirth. With a pleading look in her eyes, she’d wanted to know if the one she was now carrying would survive.
All Devisha could tell them was what she saw in their palms. She could usually see, as soon as she turned a hand over in her own, peered at the palm and traced the lines with her own fingers. Their futures played out in her mind. She would try to tell them exactly what she saw, what they craved to know.
It wasn’t always easy living with the gift that had been passed to her down the generations. She’d learned it at her mother’s knee and her mother from her grandmother before her. To witness the pain in people’s faces when she told them what she could see was sometimes hard to bear. Their heartache would often become her own. She knew she would be thinking about the woman from Thamel long into the night. But in amongst the pain was joy too, joy and light and hope for the future. She’d foreseen that the rice-farmer’s daughter’s marriage would be happy and prosperous, and that she would have a long, rich life, filled with love and laughter.
With a sigh, Devisha got up from her chair. It was time to get ready to go home. But as she held back her veil and stooped to blow out the first candle, she heard the click and creak of the outer door. Then came footsteps. Someone was walking slowly across the chamber towards her. The footsteps stopped and, as often happened, the newcomer hesitated for a couple of seconds before pulling back the curtain and peeping through.
The face of a stranger appeared in the flickering candlelight. A young woman, with soft dark hair and pale skin. She looked different to most of Devisha’s customers. She wasn’t local, and in this hidden quarter, it was rare to see a foreigner. Although the newcomer had Indian features, she was wearing western clothes. Devisha noticed the scepticism in the woman’s narrowed eyes, but there was a hint of curiosity, and a sort of yearning there too.
Devisha quickly sat down and beckoned the young woman forward. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ she said. ‘Please, come in. Sit down. Give me your hand.’
The girl’s eyes flickered hesitantly, darting around the room, taking in the smoking candles, the incense and the wall hangings. Then she took a couple of steps forward, sat down in the chair opposite and extended her right hand across the red tablecloth.
Devisha took the soft, manicured hand in her own, studied it for a few seconds. Her eyes widened and she stifled a gasp.
This was unusual indeed. There was a lot to see in this palm. There was everything there she’d expected from such a subject, but there was more. Much, much more.
Devisha narrowed her eyes and peered closer concentrating deeply. Whatever it was, was elusive. She traced the Line of Luna with her long, painted fingernail, letting it rest briefly on the Mount of Mercury.
This young woman
would be tested, that was clear. But she was strong too. Stronger than she
looked. There was something more there though… something dark, something
troubling. Something that even Devisha couldn’t fathom, not straightaway. She
bent forward, her many necklaces clanking against the table, and looked closer.
~~~
Ann Bennett
Ann Bennett is a British author of historical fiction. She was born in Pury End, a small village in Northamptonshire, UK and now lives in Surrey.
Her first book, Bamboo Heart: A Daughter's Quest, was inspired by researching her father’s experience as a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway. Bamboo Island: The Planter's Wife, A Daughter's Promise and Bamboo Road:The Homecoming, The Tea Panter's Club and The Amulet are also about the war in South East Asia, which together with The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu make up the Echoes of Empire Collection.
Ann is also author of The Runaway Sisters, bestselling The Orphan House, The Forgotten Children and The Child Without a Home, published by Bookouture.
The Lake Pavilion, The Lake Palace, both set in British India in the 1930s and WW2, and The Lake Pagoda and The Lake Villa, set in French Indochina during WW2, make up The Oriental Lake Collection.
Ann is married with three grown up sons and a granddaughter and works as a lawyer. For more details please visit www.annbennettauthor.com.
Connect with Ann:
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