'Kanyakumari' was written during three separate trips to India and is set
in that country. It is an unusual and powerful tale of friendship, danger
and loss as three women find themselves alone in India, each facing some of
her deepest fears and challenges. When close friends and seasoned
travellers, Rachel and Gina, take a trip to India, Rachel expects the usual
round of sight-seeing and collecting experiences, but she is not prepared
for the secret that Gina is harbouring. Interwoven with this unfolding
drama is the story of Sandrine, who writes letters home to her brother as
she travels around India in the late 60s. In a tense narrative that moves
between two periods, we take a journey that is both sumptuous and dark. Has
Rachel placed herself in danger? What is at the root of Ginas anxiety? And
what is Sandrines place in this story of three women making interior
journeys as they travel? Kanyakumari is a sensual delight. From the first
page it creates a vivid world, both real and richly imagined the beauty and
squalor. Hazel Manuel will draw you into the mystery of Rachel, Gina, and
Sandrine as they journey through India, past and present, to discover what
it is that they are each in search of. Jeremy Sutcliffe.