Captivating Character of February ink-up opportunity! Please join the link party or share your most captivating character in the comments.

Carol’s Captivating Character of February Link-Up

On the last Friday of the month, I will write a post about my most captivating character of the month and create a Link Party (see link below my review)! In addition to hearing about the memorable characters that have captivated you, I also want this new project to facilitate new bookish friendships, help you find your book twin, and promote blog engagement. This link party will stay active for 30 days. In exchange for linking your post back to me, I promise to visit every blog post that links up, leave a comment, and share your post once on #bookx or #booksky.

Captivating Character Link Up Details:

1. You can use fictional or real characters/persons.
2. Link up a review that specifically highlights a captivating character or person, or write a post dedicated to your most captivating character or person of the month.
3. Please include a link back to my link-up post in your post.
4. Be kind: visit one other post in the link-up and leave a comment.

No blog? No problem! Share your most captivating character of the month in the comments.

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Divya

Name: Divya
Reason: a brave and determined survivor; women supporting women; women entrepreneurs; diverse read; Indian cuisine
Book and Author: New Arrivals on West India Dock Road by Renita D’Silva
Genre/Categories/Setting: Historical Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Immigrants, Books About Food, India/England
Full Review Here

A strong female character overcoming difficult circumstances always intrigues me. Add cultural diversity, friendship, supportive community, and sides of romance and it’s a memorable read.

Living in India, Divya finds herself in a tough situation after the sudden death of her parents. Superstition reigns and Divya is considered back luck and is ostracized. Desperate for a job, she begins to work as a nanny. She loves the children, but the family is moving back to England. They invite her to accompany them (as the nanny) and promise to buy her a return ticket. Once they arrive in England, the family dismisses her and doesn’t follow through on their promise of a return ticket. Divya is stranded in a strange city and culture without money or resources. Through the kindness of strangers, she eventually ends up on West India Dock Road in London’s East End.

Divya’s life changes when she begins cooking meals at the boarding house where she stays. First, she offers to cook as a way to help out the harried owner, but soon she begins to earn money as a cook and her growing reputation draws clientele to the boarding house. Soon, she is cooking for her neighbors which leads to a community cooking competition. If you love Indian cuisine, you will find a great deal to appreciate in this story.

Divya handles it all with grace. She is generous and kind., and she is interested in the variety of cultures in her neighborhood. Divya also dreams big. and envisions a curry restaurant of her own one day.

When she suffers prejudice and is the victim of a hate crime, she doesn’t back down. She’s brave and determined. She becomes a valued member of the community and embraces her “found family.” Her story is reflective of many immigrant stories, and it is inspiring. Through Divya, we develop more compassion and understanding of the immigrant experience. Maybe we will be quicker to lend our support.

Divya is pursued by two lovely gentlemen. They are very different, and she struggles to choose between them. Then they go off to war and the romance element of the story is left unresolved.

Does Divya sound like an interesting and memorable character?

Star Rating: 4.5 Stars

More Information Here.

Meet the Author of New Arrivals on West India Dock Road, Renita D’Silva

Renita D’Silva loves stories both reading and creating them. New Arrivals on West India Dock Road, the first book in her historical saga series set on West India Dock Road, is out on February 13th, 2025. Her books have been translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in The View from Here, Bartleby Snopes, this zine, Platinum Page, Paragraph Planet, Verve among others, have been nominated for the Pushcart prize, the Best of the Net anthology, shortlisted for the LoveReading Very Short Story award and The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize and longlisted for the BBC National Short Story award. Her short story, Eavesdropping Shamelessly, is published in the Arts Council England funded Bridges Not Borders anthology of prizewinning stories. Her first psychological thriller, The Neighbours, won the Joffe Books Prize 2023.

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

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“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for reading bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, teaching, and connection. Books take us to places we’ve never been, teach us about our world, and help us understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley

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