Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes: A Novel (Jana Bibi Adventures, 1) - Softcover

9780805093490: Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes: A Novel (Jana Bibi Adventures, 1)
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

Meet Jana Bibi, a Scottish woman helping to save the small town in India she has grown to call home and the oddball characters she considers family

Janet Laird's life changed the day she inherited her grandfather's house in a faraway Indian hill station. Ignoring her son's arguments to come grow old in their family castle in Scotland, she moves with her chatty parrot, Mr. Ganguly and her loyal housekeeper, Mary, to Hamara Nagar, where local merchants are philosophers, the chief of police is a tyrant, and a bagpipe-playing Gurkha keeps the wild monkeys at bay. Settling in, Jana Bibi (as she comes to be known) meets her colorful local neighbors―Feroze Ali Khan of Royal Tailors, who struggles with his business and family, V.K. Ramachandran, whose Treasure Emporium is bursting at the seams with objects of unknown provenance, and Rambir, editor of the local newspaper, who burns the midnight oil at his printing press. When word gets out that the town is in danger of being drowned by a government dam, Jana is enlisted to help put it on the map. Hoping to attract tourists with promises of good things to come, she stacks her deck of cards, readies her fine-feathered assistant―and Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes is born.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Betsy Woodman spent ten childhood years in India; studied in France, Zambia, and the United States; and now lives in her native New Hampshire. She has contributed nonfiction pieces and several hundred book reviews to various publications, and was a writer and editor for the award-winning documentary series Experiencing War, produced for the Library of Congress and aired on Public Radio International.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:
A New Life in an Old Place
 

Two Letters

Mr. Ganguly perched on the wrought-iron chair and preened his emerald-green feathers. In the palace garden, a flock of wild Indian ringnecks came swooping down into the mango trees, settled and chattered and screamed at one another, reached some agreement, and took off again. The parrot turned his head briefly to look at them, without much interest. His wings were not clipped. Yet he flew only a few feet at a time, from chair to ground to table, table to chair to perch, always returning to safety.
Jana put down her teacup, took a peanut from her pocket, and held it out. Mr. Ganguly held it daintily with his claw, shelled it with his beak, and ate it.
“More,” he said.
“Later. Oh, all right.” She gave him another.
She heard a door close and looked up to the verandah of the palace, watched Mary’s rotund figure come down the steps, the afternoon post in her hand. Most days, Jana got no letters. Who would write? Jack sent dutiful filial missives from Scotland, and friends in Bombay sent greetings on major holidays. Otherwise, people from her past stayed silent.
“Jana mem!” Mary’s smile transformed her heavily pockmarked face. “Two letters! Postman was so excited, he almost fell off his bicycle.” She handed over the letters and adjusted her sari. “He said it was good luck to get letters on Monday. Lord Shiva rules on Monday.”
Jana smiled. Mary maintained that her family had been Christian since Saint Thomas journeyed to Madras—“in the days of old!”—but she nonetheless hedged her bets, knitting Buddhist symbols into her sweaters and shawls and celebrating Divali by putting out little oil lamps. In her room, she kept one picture of Jesus and one of Dr. Ambedkar, her fellow outcaste who had risen from his lowly status to write the constitution of India.
“Jana mem, Jack baba might be coming to visit from U.K?” Mary had seen Jack’s familiar handwriting on the thin blue aerogramme.
“Perhaps,” said Jana. “If only he would take a holiday from that engineering job of his.”
“Engineering is good,” said Mary. “But holidays are also good. And every boy also should come to see his mother.”
Meanwhile, Jana was looking at the second piece of mail, a large buff envelope postmarked Allahabad, 1 June 1959. Eight months ago, Jana calculated. Still, that was not too bad, considering the number of places to which it had been forwarded. Almost everywhere she had lived in her adult life—the remote mission station in northern India, the Iranis’ beach cottage in Bombay, her grandfather MacPherson’s castle outside Glasgow, now owned by her son, and, finally, the nawab’s palace, in the former princely state of Terauli. A doggedly determined letter, that!
She slit the envelope with a knife from the tea tray and withdrew a fat legal document and a cover letter. Mr. Ganguly, now perched on her shoulder, bent his head toward the letter as if reading it, and Mary lingered, not taking away the tea tray.
“Dear Mrs. Laird,” Jana read.
It has come to our attention that you are the sole living heir of the late Ramsay Grant, whose will we probated in 1930. At that time there was one piece of property that could not be distributed, because of the terms of the lease, which only expired in 1955. Further complications regarding succession have only recently been resolved. We are now happy to inform you that you are the owner of the Jolly Grant House, No. 108 Central Bazaar, adjacent to Ramachandran’s Treasure Emporium and across from Royal Tailors, Hamara Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. We assume that you are aware of the building’s historic importance.
All matters related to the execution of your grandfather’s will are now resolved and all property distributed. There should be no impediment to your taking possession of the building. Enclosed herewith you will find the key.
The Jolly Grant House, thought Jana. Extraordinary that it was still standing, let alone that none of Grandfather Grant’s Anglo-Indian descendants had lived to take possession. A shred of memory came back to her, of a visit to Hamara Nagar in 1912, when she was ten. The family had put up at the Victoria Hotel, even though Grandfather Grant had plenty of room in the guesthouse of his compound three or four miles away, then on the outskirts of town.
“You’re not actually going to visit him,” Jana’s father had said, “and take the children?” And—left unsaid—expose them to that woman, Grandfather Grant’s Indian wife?
“James, you’re being so stuffy. He’s almost ninety!” Jana’s mother had answered.
That little exchange summed up the two sides of Jana’s family. How many generations of them—soldiers, civil servants, engineers, architects—had worked and lived in India? Five, six? From the beginning, some—like her father—considered India a place to earn their living, while keeping away from Indians as much as possible. Stuffy folks, who insisted on boundaries, categories, and boxes. But others—like her mother—adored India and were never completely happy anywhere else. Grandfather Grant, who looked like a proper Victorian gentleman, was actually of the second sort, a throwback to the eighteenth century, when it was commonplace for a British man to have an Indian wife. He got away with his eccentricity, Jana’s father always maintained, only because of his wealth.
On their way to visit the Jolly Grant House, in the spring of 1912, Jana’s pony had bolted, and for several terrified minutes she’d thought she’d be thrown over the knife-edge cliff to certain death below. She remembered arriving wobbly-kneed and in tears at a large building with a lookout tower, and being comforted by an Indian woman in a soft silk sari whose skin smelled of almond cream.
She turned to Jack’s aerogramme.
“Mother, you’re too old to live alone,” she read. “Come live in Glasgow. Isn’t that where you belong? I grant you that it was noble to live as a missionary and take care of Father all those years, and I suppose that the world does need musicians, but do you need to be one of them? And aren’t you tired of living from hand to mouth? What if you get sick? Remember that you’ll always be an outsider there.”
She had to smile. Jack had always been a little old lady. As a boy, he’d preferred reading to exploring the mission compound or climbing trees. She’d never found a lizard in his pocket. “Safety first” had been his motto as a six-year-old, and apparently it still was.
Now, I ask you, she said, almost aloud. Too old? Fifty-eight? And alone? Who was alone in India, apart from a few prayer-mumbling sadhus? The only time in her life she’d felt alone was during the six lonely years in Scotland. Grieving the sudden death of her parents, wrenched away, in 1919, from everything she’d ever known—the big white house in Allahabad, the boarding school in the hills, the sun-drenched gardens. Failing her audition to get into the Glasgow Athenaeum as a violin student, working as her grandfather MacPherson’s unpaid secretary—now, those things had been lonely.
In contrast, going to a Himalayan hill station, with Mary and Mr. Ganguly, did not strike her as a lonely proposition. And she liked the idea of living in Grandfather Grant’s house. Anyway, she’d felt for some time that her usefulness at the nawab’s palace was at an end.
“Mary,” said Jana, “we may have a new home.” She sketched the details, knowing that Mary would like the number 108. The Ganges had 108 names; the god Krishna had played the flute for 108 milkmaids. Sure enough, Mary’s eyes lit up.
“Very auspicious, Jana mem.” She took the tea tray and headed back into the palace.
*   *   *
That night, Jana soaked in the tub in her huge bathroom, looking up at the high ceilings and wondering how she could possibly consider leaving the palace. It was so pleasant here. So comfortable. The salary was generous and the expenses almost nonexistent, so that every month she added to her savings account, a good thing after the lean years as a missionary and then as a dance musician.
But, but ... boredom was setting in; that could not be denied. There just wasn’t enough to do, now that all but one of the nawab’s children had been packed off to boarding school in Switzerland. The dozen children’s violins the nawab had ordered from Italy when Jana had first arrived lay silent. Gone were the days when the children would line up on the palace steps and, led by Jana, greet their father with a medley of international tunes. The night Prime Minister Nehru had come for dinner, the children had played the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana,” bringing tears to the prime minister’s eyes. There wouldn’t be another night like that.
She got out of the tub, wrapped herself in a Turkish towel, and dried off in the spacious dressing room. She thought she heard Mr. Ganguly calling from her bedroom and went in to see what he wanted, but he was merely going into his bedtime routine: talking to himself, settling down on his perch, closing one eye and opening it again before finally drifting off. He looked amusingly decorative and fitting against the elegant background of the room, his bright red beak and green plumage bringing out the colors in the Persian rug. She settled herself in the window seat and looked around at the huge room, with its French doors leading out to a verandah and, beyond that, the garden with the mango trees. Leave this cushiest of situations? Madness. And yet, deep down inside, ...

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHolt Paperbacks
  • Publication date2012
  • ISBN 10 0805093494
  • ISBN 13 9780805093490
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages304
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9788184001280: Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9788184001280
Publisher: Random House India, 2012
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0805093494xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0805093494-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2023)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Paperback Quantity: 20
Print on Demand
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New! This item is printed on demand. Seller Inventory # 0805093494

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.29
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lucky's Textbooks
(Dallas, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2416190205511

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.87
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
California Books
(Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9780805093490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0805093494

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 22.15
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Betsy Woodman
Published by Henry Holt and Company Inc (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New PAP Quantity: 15
Print on Demand
Seller:
PBShop.store US
(Wood Dale, IL, U.S.A.)

Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # IQ-9780805093490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.70
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by Holt Paperbacks (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0805093494

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.98
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Woodman, Betsy
Published by St. Martins Press-3PL (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0805093494

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.99
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Betsy Woodman
Published by Henry Holt & Company Inc (2012)
ISBN 10: 0805093494 ISBN 13: 9780805093490
New Paperback / softback Quantity: > 20
Print on Demand
Seller:
THE SAINT BOOKSTORE
(Southport, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. This item is printed on demand. New copy - Usually dispatched within 5-9 working days. Seller Inventory # C9780805093490

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 24.38
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 11.30
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book