WHEN Mair Ellis clears out her father’s house in north Wales, she finds hidden away amongst his belongings an exquisite antique shawl – and a lock of child’s hair.
Determined to find out more about the mystery, she travels to Kashmir in the foothills of the Himalayas, in search of the village where the shawl was made – and the story of her grandmother, missionary’s wife Nerys Watkins.
Thomas’s narrative skilfully interweaves Mair’s modern day journey with the story of newlywed Nerys’ time in Kashmir, as the wartime wife of a decent but dour missionary years older than her – and the lover of a dashing mountaineer.
Family secrets are unravelled, old wrongs righted, old friendships rediscovered. And through it all, Thomas’s love of this stunning valley paradise hemmed in with soaring mountains – a region now riven with ethnic strife – shines through.
Gripping from start to finish.
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