Every Word Unsaid

There is something familiar in Kimberly Duffy's writings that take the readers to exotic places without ever leaving their homes.  With the protagonist's travels, Kimberly once again takes her readers to India in the late 1800s to a time under British rule, unspeakable poverty, desperate conditions, and astounding beauty.  

Augusta "Gussie" Travers escapes her family's climb into social status by writing for Ladies Weekly magazine as "Miss Adventuress." She travels throughout the United States, taking photographs and writing articles that allow her readers to escape the drudgery of daily life.  Her writing is light-hearted and witty, and her photographs are breath-taking illustrations of her travels.  When her identity is leaked on the morning of her sister's wedding, she is denigrated and renounced by her family.  Her parents decide to exile her to her aunt's in Chicago, where she might learn some of the finer societal manners, and where she won't be able to harm their social status by her outrageous behavior. Her boss at Ladies Weekly offers to send her to India for a more exotic trip than she's been on before. 

As Gussie is leaving for Chicago in the company of her uncle--once a Pinkerton agent--she ditches the train she's on and heads to Boston to catch a ship to England and then India.  While in India she meets up with her childhood friends Specs and Catherine. And while in India, she finds that she has come home.  She has found the place where she is accepted for who she is, where she is valued for her thoughts and ideas, where she is treated with respect and honor--all things that have been missing from her family's treatment and opinions of her. She also finds love.  It's a topsy-turvy road to romance for Gussie (and dare I say it, a rather formulaic road to romance).

I am not sure where Kimberly came up with the title for Every Word Unsaid, because there were not many words left unsaid by the time the book is finished.  Gussie and Specs hashed, rehashed, and sometimes over-hashed their words with each other.  But this book is one that was surprisingly compelling. There are events that bring out anger, compassion, excitement, betrayal, understanding, and several other emotions. It will cause readers like me to lose sleep because they just can't put it down, but it's worth every minute.  I looked back to see that I have read all of Kimberly's books and they are all just as enjoyable as this one.  

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a ride on an elephant to fulfill a bucket list item. 

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.