Review + #Giveaway: A Hundred Hands by Dianne Noble @dianneanoble1 @GoddessFish

A Hundred Hands

by Dianne Noble

GENRE:  Contemporary Fiction

BLURB:

Polly leaves her husband and travels to India. There she meets the charismatic Finlay and begins a new - and dangerous - life of teaching street children in the slums.

Excerpt:

She battled her way to the open space where Finlay waited for her. The air filled with the metallic smell of blood.

‘Have you seen enough, Poll?’

A nod as she put her hand in his. In a metal pen stood a black goat. A doomed but stoical goat.

‘There’s the guillotine,’ Finlay said, nodding towards a huge metal blade fixed to the stone floor, bordered by fresh sawdust.

‘I thought they’d use a knife or a ceremonial sword or something...’ She felt faint, took hold of the back of his belt as the temple bells clanged and men hawked and spat near her feet. Without warning, vomit rose in her throat. She spat it on the ground as he dragged her along, hoping he wouldn’t look round.

Finlay upended a Fanta crate near a drinks barrow and bought her iced water. ‘Sit there.’ He peered down at her. ‘You’re a bit pale. Drink this.’

After a few mouthfuls she managed a feeble grin. ‘Horrible place.’

‘Well, you did insist.’ He turned over another crate and sat beside her. ‘Better now?’

‘Yes. Thank you.’

She looked up. A small crowd of men had formed around them. Sharp words from Finlay and a few moved away.

‘You speak Hindi.’

‘Of course. This has been my home for so long.’ His eyes met hers. Not laughing eyes now. ‘I’m nearly twenty years older than you, Poll. Is that a problem?’

‘No.’ She took his hands. ‘It’s not.’ Oh Lord, maybe he thinks I’m too immature. ‘Is it a problem for you?’

He shook his head, smiled, kissed one of her hands and then the other. A collective murmur came from the crowd.

My Review:

After feeling that she needs to escape her home town in England with all the feedback or the feedback she feels like she is getting from the people there when her husband is imprisoned for paedophilia Polly decides to go to India. When she arrives in India she meets two wonderful guys who are both taking care of the children that live on the streets of Kolkata.

The first guy Polly meets is Liam and he is like a missionary only working with the children on temporary bases. At Liam’s place the children come there during the day and are feed three meals a day and are taught to read and write and then have to go back out on the streets at night.

The second guy Polly meets is Finlay who has around twenty five children living in his home at one time. He feeds them and teaches them to read and write plus he hopes to teach them a trade that will aide them in finding a job when the time comes.

Polly loves working with the children they call her Aunty in respect and love to be hugged and like lots of attention. When Liam’s time is up and he has to leave and the new guy takes over he doesn’t allow Polly to work with the children anymore so then she gives Finlay and all his children her time.

Polly falls in love with Finlay and the children so when her visa of six months is up she doesn’t want to return home but when she learns that her grandmother has fallen ill she rushes home to be with her.

The whole time Polly is away from Finlay and the children she misses them something fierce and is very sad. She wants to return to India but is not sure what to do. She needs to stay and take care of her grandmother and so is not sure what she must do. Now Polly has to make a choice stay or go.

When I read the summary of A Hundred Hands I knew I had to read it hoping to learn something of India and their ways and how they lived. I read a book once that was set in Vietnam and the author made Vietnam sound like a very beautiful place with the description of the land itself and I wanted to visit Vietnam. Dianne Noble did a wonderful job of describing India and showing you how they live and all the things that they live with or without according to how you look at it. Polly is a very strong and Wonderful person and her work with the children is very remarkable.

I truly enjoyed reading A Hundred Hands and reading about Polly, Finlay, the children and India. I would like to read more about Polly, the children and India as well. I really like reading stories where the author gives you at least a little detail about the country and people who live there.

If you have not read A Hundred Hands then let me suggest that you do. A Hundred Hands is an astounding read one that I could not put down. 

AUTHOR BIO:

I was born into a service family and at the tender age of seven found myself on the Dunera, a troopship, sailing for a three year posting to Singapore. So began a lifetime of wandering – and fifteen different schools. Teen years living in Cyprus, before partition, when the country was swarming with handsome UN soldiers, and then marriage to a Civil Engineer who whisked me away to the Arabian Gulf.

Most of the following years were spent as a single parent with an employment history which ranged from the British Embassy in Bahrain to a goods picker, complete with steel toe-capped boots, in an Argos warehouse. In between I earned my keep as a cashier in Barclays, a radio presenter and a café proprietor on the sea front in Penzance.

My travels have taken me to China, Egypt, Israel, Guatemala, Russia, Morocco, Belize and my favourite place, India. I keep copious notes and constantly dip into them to ensure my writing is atmospheric.

Author Links:

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