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Outcast
Rose leaves her Cornwall café to search for her daughter in the sweltering slums of Kolkata, India.
In the daily struggle for survival, she is often brought to her knees, but finds strength to overcome the poverty and disease, grows to love the Dalit community she helps.
But then there are deaths, and she fears for her own safety.
Her café at home is at risk of being torched, and finally, she has to make the terrible choice between her daughter and the Indian children.
In the daily struggle for survival, she is often brought to her knees, but finds strength to overcome the poverty and disease, grows to love the Dalit community she helps.
But then there are deaths, and she fears for her own safety.
Her café at home is at risk of being torched, and finally, she has to make the terrible choice between her daughter and the Indian children.
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Published March 16, 2016
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June 8, 2017
I always enjoy reading books on India and that is what made me interested in reading Outcast. However, the book is more than just a book about India and its woes. Outcast is a story of relationships between mothers and daughters, friendships, and being brave enough to choose a different kind of life for oneself.
I found the main character to be very likeable and I related to her in many ways as she tried to build a relationship with her daughter. I applauded her for staying on in India after her daughter went back to Australia. Her empathy, bravery, and independence made a great story as she managed life with the dalits and helped the children learn to read, which is very much something that I hope to do in the future.
Noble's descriptions of the sights and smells of the food and daily life were spot on and brought me back to India many times throughout her book. Outcast is an interesting and heartwarming read that I recommend to those who also enjoy reading about India.
I found the main character to be very likeable and I related to her in many ways as she tried to build a relationship with her daughter. I applauded her for staying on in India after her daughter went back to Australia. Her empathy, bravery, and independence made a great story as she managed life with the dalits and helped the children learn to read, which is very much something that I hope to do in the future.
Noble's descriptions of the sights and smells of the food and daily life were spot on and brought me back to India many times throughout her book. Outcast is an interesting and heartwarming read that I recommend to those who also enjoy reading about India.
September 4, 2016
A coming-of-age story with a difference.
Rose is happy, running a Cornish café and regaining her independence after her failed marriage. But when her daughter refuses to return from her gap year in India, Rose realises that an email just won’t cut it. If she really wants to prove to Ellie that she cares, she has to go to India and meet Ellie on her own terms.
The main strand of this novel is Rose’s change � she acclimatises not just to India, but to her daughter’s personality, Kolkata, heat, the caste system and the everyday injustices inflicted on society’s poorest. She begins to understand how much the volunteers matter to the children, who have, quite literally, nothing else. She also begins to understand how wide the breach between herself and Ellie remains.
In parallel, another mother/daughter relationship follows a less positive trajectory. Hannah’s looking after the café in Cornwall. She loves it. The responsibility, the order, the routine suit her perfectly and get her away from her dopehead mother. She cares for the customers, runs the place with diligence and imagination, trying to live up to Rose’s standards. Then her mother arrives in a police car, after accidentally burning down her caravan.
This is an unexpectedly touching and truthful novel of family relationships, which can lift you up or drag you down. Rose breaks her seal of safety and enters a harsh world of uncertainty, dirt and humanity. Her compassion and sympathy involve, teach and ultimately change her.
Compassion and loyalty coupled with a sense of responsibility influence Hannah, but not in the same way. Her mother’s self-indulgence and all she thought she’d escaped follow her, tainting her new life and testing her love to the limit.
This novel is as transformative as it is absorbing. Watching these characters change takes us with them, in full sensory and emotional detail. Noble conjures cultural shocks in such immersive prose � whether the limited options of a small Cornish town or the unlimited dangers of a Kolkata slum � the reader is there: hot, angry, confused, disgusted, sad, itchy and overjoyed.
This beautifully written book transports you to a place where the foreign and familiar are equally scary. A thoroughly absorbing read.
You’ll enjoy this if you liked: Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Snowdrops by AD Miller or The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Avoid if you don’t like: Realistic descriptions of the lives of Dalits (the lowest caste), detail of Indian city life, emotional upheaval
Ideal accompaniments: Spicy samosas, smoky chai and Ancestral Lullabies by The Psychedelic Muse
Genre: Contemporary, women's fiction
Rose is happy, running a Cornish café and regaining her independence after her failed marriage. But when her daughter refuses to return from her gap year in India, Rose realises that an email just won’t cut it. If she really wants to prove to Ellie that she cares, she has to go to India and meet Ellie on her own terms.
The main strand of this novel is Rose’s change � she acclimatises not just to India, but to her daughter’s personality, Kolkata, heat, the caste system and the everyday injustices inflicted on society’s poorest. She begins to understand how much the volunteers matter to the children, who have, quite literally, nothing else. She also begins to understand how wide the breach between herself and Ellie remains.
In parallel, another mother/daughter relationship follows a less positive trajectory. Hannah’s looking after the café in Cornwall. She loves it. The responsibility, the order, the routine suit her perfectly and get her away from her dopehead mother. She cares for the customers, runs the place with diligence and imagination, trying to live up to Rose’s standards. Then her mother arrives in a police car, after accidentally burning down her caravan.
This is an unexpectedly touching and truthful novel of family relationships, which can lift you up or drag you down. Rose breaks her seal of safety and enters a harsh world of uncertainty, dirt and humanity. Her compassion and sympathy involve, teach and ultimately change her.
Compassion and loyalty coupled with a sense of responsibility influence Hannah, but not in the same way. Her mother’s self-indulgence and all she thought she’d escaped follow her, tainting her new life and testing her love to the limit.
This novel is as transformative as it is absorbing. Watching these characters change takes us with them, in full sensory and emotional detail. Noble conjures cultural shocks in such immersive prose � whether the limited options of a small Cornish town or the unlimited dangers of a Kolkata slum � the reader is there: hot, angry, confused, disgusted, sad, itchy and overjoyed.
This beautifully written book transports you to a place where the foreign and familiar are equally scary. A thoroughly absorbing read.
You’ll enjoy this if you liked: Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Snowdrops by AD Miller or The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Avoid if you don’t like: Realistic descriptions of the lives of Dalits (the lowest caste), detail of Indian city life, emotional upheaval
Ideal accompaniments: Spicy samosas, smoky chai and Ancestral Lullabies by The Psychedelic Muse
Genre: Contemporary, women's fiction
May 24, 2016
I received a free PDF copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
After her daughter goes missing, Rose leaves the sanctuary she made for herself in Cornwall and heads for sweltering slums and chaos in Kolkata, India. Initially overwhelmed, and frequently brought to her knees, Rose finds herself growing to love the Dalit community she finds herself part of. As our heroine discovers, no matter how far you travel, your baggage goes with you. Trouble at home and abroad bring her to the brink of an impossible choice between her daughter and the Indian children who need her.
Outcast opens in Penzance, Cornwall and moves early on to India. No matter the setting, the author portrays it well and you can almost feel yourself there, immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells.
While the narrative is descriptive, with a good plot and pace, the writing falls into excessive passivity and overuses filter words (knew, saw, heard, etc.,). Also, sentences fail to develop fully, as in: ‘The saliva-gleam of a tongue stud.� This follows a line of dialogue, and isn’t linked to anything. On its own, it doesn’t make a complete sentence. Nor does, ‘Leaned against the wall for balance then pushed the animal with the sole of her sandal.� While sentence fragments can be used to good artistic effect, they need to be sandwiched between connected statements to work, and neither of these examples are. Then I would come across a line that I loved for its simplicity, like: ‘Grief that lurched in waves, threatening to submerge her.�
Hiccups aside, I love that the author uses the sense of smell to bring her scenes to life. This is one sense that a lot of writers forget about. Also, the narrative achieves a healthy balance between description and letting readers imagine it for themselves. Throughout, the story-telling feels authentic and believable. I have to note how much I adore the book cover: awesome! Had I seen this on a bookshop shelf, I would have picked it up for a closer look based on the cover alone.
After her daughter goes missing, Rose leaves the sanctuary she made for herself in Cornwall and heads for sweltering slums and chaos in Kolkata, India. Initially overwhelmed, and frequently brought to her knees, Rose finds herself growing to love the Dalit community she finds herself part of. As our heroine discovers, no matter how far you travel, your baggage goes with you. Trouble at home and abroad bring her to the brink of an impossible choice between her daughter and the Indian children who need her.
Outcast opens in Penzance, Cornwall and moves early on to India. No matter the setting, the author portrays it well and you can almost feel yourself there, immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells.
While the narrative is descriptive, with a good plot and pace, the writing falls into excessive passivity and overuses filter words (knew, saw, heard, etc.,). Also, sentences fail to develop fully, as in: ‘The saliva-gleam of a tongue stud.� This follows a line of dialogue, and isn’t linked to anything. On its own, it doesn’t make a complete sentence. Nor does, ‘Leaned against the wall for balance then pushed the animal with the sole of her sandal.� While sentence fragments can be used to good artistic effect, they need to be sandwiched between connected statements to work, and neither of these examples are. Then I would come across a line that I loved for its simplicity, like: ‘Grief that lurched in waves, threatening to submerge her.�
Hiccups aside, I love that the author uses the sense of smell to bring her scenes to life. This is one sense that a lot of writers forget about. Also, the narrative achieves a healthy balance between description and letting readers imagine it for themselves. Throughout, the story-telling feels authentic and believable. I have to note how much I adore the book cover: awesome! Had I seen this on a bookshop shelf, I would have picked it up for a closer look based on the cover alone.
June 8, 2016
In this her first novel, Dianne Noble introduces us to the horrendous level of life-threatening deprivation suffered by the lowest level of society in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), capital of West Begal but pricks any incipient western smugness by depicting, alongside the Bencali location, the sleazy deprivation suffered by the lowest level of society in British Cornwall. The teme running through this novel are the parameters of motherhood, when to support, when to discipline and when to let go.
In the past I have regarded Tirgear Press as the publisher of well-written but comparatively lightweight genre novels suitable for relaxed holiday reads They are to be congratulated on adding this more in-depth novel to their lists.
In the past I have regarded Tirgear Press as the publisher of well-written but comparatively lightweight genre novels suitable for relaxed holiday reads They are to be congratulated on adding this more in-depth novel to their lists.
March 19, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this richly atmospheric story. The author brings both settings to life and the plight of the people Rose goes to help often brought tears to my eyes. I particularly appreciated the varied mother/daughter relationships throughout the novel. The only thing that tripped me on occasion was the stylistic choice by the author to use short and fragmented sentences for tension. But, this minor blip didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this must read novel. 4.5 stars.
August 7, 2017
The second of Nobles books that I have read. Filled with emotion and descriptions that show a side of India that not many will see. Very similar to her other book A Hundred Hands in that it is about a woman who goes out to the slums of Kolkata with a different purpose in mind, and how the situation turns them to want to give something to the children there. But enjoyable.
June 18, 2016
The Outcast is a modern contemporary read with two settings: Penzance, Cornwall and Kolkata, India. Rose begins as an overprotective, caring but chaotic café owner. The book opens with her frantic for news of her daughter, due home from a gap year in India, on a plane reported as missing.
However this isn't where the story heads, Ellie, we discover wasn't on the plane, she has stayed on to work with children of the Dalits (Untouchables) the lowest caste in India and those shunned by society.
Rose needs to see her daughter, to try to bridge the gap between them, to ask for forgiveness. So she hands over the running of her café to Hannah and rushes to India, with no planning, no injections and no thought as to what she may find. Some might call her brave, others silly, her one thought is to find Ellie.
But Ellie's not particularly pleased to see her mother, she fears she'll try to run her life for her again. If Rose wants to spend time with Ellie, then she'll need to help. Ellie plunges Rose into the poverty, stench, crowds and extreme conditions that the Dalits exist by. Working alongside charities and volunteers who give their time, money and love to those ignored by the authorities.
Along side the story from India, the book gives us chapters from Penzance and the café. Just as the Dalits are the outcasts of society in India, we are shown of outcasts here too. Hannah's mother Willow is a druggie and homeless, she comes to stay with Hannah, bringing with her trouble. Hannah tries hard to keep the café running to Rose's standards and keep the customers happy.
Rose is both appalled and consumed by the treatment of different groups in India and how accepting they are of their situation. Another volunteer, Maria sums it up;
"Karma. Endure without complaint and your next life will be better".
The writing style is very atmospheric, you definitely see, hear, smell, taste as Rose does. The pacing is fast due to an unusual use of extremely short sentences. A technique which left me constantly thinking I needed to catch up and the style is quite exhausting at times. Rose had my admiration, not everyone could be so giving to people in these situations nor expose themselves to the conditions she had to work and live in. An inspiring read.
However this isn't where the story heads, Ellie, we discover wasn't on the plane, she has stayed on to work with children of the Dalits (Untouchables) the lowest caste in India and those shunned by society.
Rose needs to see her daughter, to try to bridge the gap between them, to ask for forgiveness. So she hands over the running of her café to Hannah and rushes to India, with no planning, no injections and no thought as to what she may find. Some might call her brave, others silly, her one thought is to find Ellie.
But Ellie's not particularly pleased to see her mother, she fears she'll try to run her life for her again. If Rose wants to spend time with Ellie, then she'll need to help. Ellie plunges Rose into the poverty, stench, crowds and extreme conditions that the Dalits exist by. Working alongside charities and volunteers who give their time, money and love to those ignored by the authorities.
Along side the story from India, the book gives us chapters from Penzance and the café. Just as the Dalits are the outcasts of society in India, we are shown of outcasts here too. Hannah's mother Willow is a druggie and homeless, she comes to stay with Hannah, bringing with her trouble. Hannah tries hard to keep the café running to Rose's standards and keep the customers happy.
Rose is both appalled and consumed by the treatment of different groups in India and how accepting they are of their situation. Another volunteer, Maria sums it up;
"Karma. Endure without complaint and your next life will be better".
The writing style is very atmospheric, you definitely see, hear, smell, taste as Rose does. The pacing is fast due to an unusual use of extremely short sentences. A technique which left me constantly thinking I needed to catch up and the style is quite exhausting at times. Rose had my admiration, not everyone could be so giving to people in these situations nor expose themselves to the conditions she had to work and live in. An inspiring read.
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July 26, 2016A coming-of-age story with a difference.
Rose is happy, running a Cornish café and regaining her independence after her failed marriage. But when her daughter refuses to return from her gap year in India, Rose realises that an email just won’t cut it. If she really wants to prove to Ellie that she cares, she has to go to India and meet Ellie on her own terms.
The main strand of this novel is Rose’s change � she acclimatises not just to India, but to her daughter’s personality, Kolkata, heat, the caste system and the everyday injustices inflicted on society’s poorest. She begins to understand how much the volunteers matter to the children, who have, quite literally, nothing else. She also begins to understand how wide the breach between herself and Ellie remains.
In parallel, another mother/daughter relationship follows a less positive trajectory. Hannah’s looking after the café in Cornwall. She loves it. The responsibility, the order, the routine suit her perfectly and get her away from her dopehead mother. She cares for the customers, runs the place with diligence and imagination, trying to live up to Rose’s standards. Then her mother arrives in a police car, after accidentally burning down her caravan.
This is an unexpectedly touching and truthful novel of family relationships, which can lift you up or drag you down. Rose breaks her seal of safety and enters a harsh world of uncertainty, dirt and humanity. Her compassion and sympathy involve, teach and ultimately change her.
Compassion and loyalty coupled with a sense of responsibility influence Hannah, but not in the same way. Her mother’s self-indulgence and all she thought she’d escaped follow her, tainting her new life and testing her love to the limit.
This novel is as transformative as it is absorbing. Watching these characters change takes us with them, in full sensory and emotional detail. Noble conjures cultural shocks in such immersive prose � whether the limited options of a small Cornish town or the unlimited dangers of a Kolkata slum � the reader is there: hot, angry, confused, disgusted, sad, itchy and overjoyed.
This beautifully written book transports you to a place where the foreign and familiar are equally scary. A thoroughly absorbing read.
Rose is happy, running a Cornish café and regaining her independence after her failed marriage. But when her daughter refuses to return from her gap year in India, Rose realises that an email just won’t cut it. If she really wants to prove to Ellie that she cares, she has to go to India and meet Ellie on her own terms.
The main strand of this novel is Rose’s change � she acclimatises not just to India, but to her daughter’s personality, Kolkata, heat, the caste system and the everyday injustices inflicted on society’s poorest. She begins to understand how much the volunteers matter to the children, who have, quite literally, nothing else. She also begins to understand how wide the breach between herself and Ellie remains.
In parallel, another mother/daughter relationship follows a less positive trajectory. Hannah’s looking after the café in Cornwall. She loves it. The responsibility, the order, the routine suit her perfectly and get her away from her dopehead mother. She cares for the customers, runs the place with diligence and imagination, trying to live up to Rose’s standards. Then her mother arrives in a police car, after accidentally burning down her caravan.
This is an unexpectedly touching and truthful novel of family relationships, which can lift you up or drag you down. Rose breaks her seal of safety and enters a harsh world of uncertainty, dirt and humanity. Her compassion and sympathy involve, teach and ultimately change her.
Compassion and loyalty coupled with a sense of responsibility influence Hannah, but not in the same way. Her mother’s self-indulgence and all she thought she’d escaped follow her, tainting her new life and testing her love to the limit.
This novel is as transformative as it is absorbing. Watching these characters change takes us with them, in full sensory and emotional detail. Noble conjures cultural shocks in such immersive prose � whether the limited options of a small Cornish town or the unlimited dangers of a Kolkata slum � the reader is there: hot, angry, confused, disgusted, sad, itchy and overjoyed.
This beautifully written book transports you to a place where the foreign and familiar are equally scary. A thoroughly absorbing read.
June 25, 2016
This is a book that I went into not knowing what to expect and when I finished, I was left with a feeling of WOW! Just wow!
This book was sort of emotionally draining as a mother is searching for her daughter in a distant country. The book starts out in Cornwall and moves to India.
It is a story of a mother and daughter and relationships and all the emotions that those relationships conjure. You get the story from both the point of views of mother, Rose and then a daughter, Hannah who is keeping Rose's shop for her when she goes to India in search of her daughter. Hannah keeps the cafe and tries to do what she can for her druggie mom, Willow.
I really wish the Hannah/Willow story line was a little more developed or more too it. I couldn't understand how someone who was so with it, let it all fall apart when she could have asked for help from her boss when things got out of hand.
Rose was a character that you can really admire. She grew as a person in India, maybe a little faster than you'd expect in reality, but I liked how she jumped in to help the children right away knowing so little about the culture and the country that she was in.
It is interesting to see the role reversal in the characters between Emily and Rose.
Ms Noble really brings you into the story engaging all your senses as you read.
I will say one thing, I didn't find the book blurb to be an adequate representation of the book. Yes there's drama on both sides of the story, but it isn't as intense as the blurb would make it out to be.
I totally loved this book and look forward to reading more by this author.
This book was sort of emotionally draining as a mother is searching for her daughter in a distant country. The book starts out in Cornwall and moves to India.
It is a story of a mother and daughter and relationships and all the emotions that those relationships conjure. You get the story from both the point of views of mother, Rose and then a daughter, Hannah who is keeping Rose's shop for her when she goes to India in search of her daughter. Hannah keeps the cafe and tries to do what she can for her druggie mom, Willow.
I really wish the Hannah/Willow story line was a little more developed or more too it. I couldn't understand how someone who was so with it, let it all fall apart when she could have asked for help from her boss when things got out of hand.
Rose was a character that you can really admire. She grew as a person in India, maybe a little faster than you'd expect in reality, but I liked how she jumped in to help the children right away knowing so little about the culture and the country that she was in.
It is interesting to see the role reversal in the characters between Emily and Rose.
Ms Noble really brings you into the story engaging all your senses as you read.
I will say one thing, I didn't find the book blurb to be an adequate representation of the book. Yes there's drama on both sides of the story, but it isn't as intense as the blurb would make it out to be.
I totally loved this book and look forward to reading more by this author.
March 21, 2016
If you enjoy literature about India, then this is for you. I adored such books as City of Joy by Dominique La Pierre, and Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Outcast by Dianne Noble is another one joining my bookshelf of fabulous books.
Ms Noble writes with such ease and, without clogging up the text with deep descriptions, manages to take the reader right into the heart of the Dalit community (also known as the Untouchables) so that I felt, for the last couple of days while "devouring" this book, that I was there too smelling the stench, watching the families living in poverty between two barriers in the middle of a motorway and melting at the sight of a rare smile from the children who are just happy to survive another day. The joy of the book is the enthusiasm with which these people have learning to speak English with Rose, the main character.
There are a couple of sub-plots which are essential to the main story and which are neatly tied up at the end, leaving me completely satisfied that I've read a truly stimulating book. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Noble.
Ms Noble writes with such ease and, without clogging up the text with deep descriptions, manages to take the reader right into the heart of the Dalit community (also known as the Untouchables) so that I felt, for the last couple of days while "devouring" this book, that I was there too smelling the stench, watching the families living in poverty between two barriers in the middle of a motorway and melting at the sight of a rare smile from the children who are just happy to survive another day. The joy of the book is the enthusiasm with which these people have learning to speak English with Rose, the main character.
There are a couple of sub-plots which are essential to the main story and which are neatly tied up at the end, leaving me completely satisfied that I've read a truly stimulating book. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Noble.
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