Bombay Dreams - Tropic of Ballard

Did you want Roohafza or sex, she asked?Both, he said.Pretending to be a White Russian royal running one of the most colourful brothels in Bombay, our Polish beauty queen escapes the tentacles of vengeful enemies, out to get her for being a Nazi SS Officer's mistress during World War II. Along the way, she attracts into her net a wide range of characters, mainly in India, building a web of intrigue, violence, sex, romance and wealth.Including multiple contenders for the Bad Sex Award - beat the one that includes RoohAfza syrup? All set in a post-Colonial neo-Colonial backdrop in an India that all are fleetingly aware exists, some know as it goes past their air-conditioned windows,, but few would write about. Markers along the way, this, the 2nd book in a trilogy after TRAIN TO GOA by the same author, gathers speed and moves at a breathless pace to leave you wondering - what and how will it end?Markers along the way will give you ideas. When the British left India, they left behind many markers, so that they could pick up on assets and lifestyles when they chose to return. One of these markers is a part of South Bombay, now called Mumbai, known as Ballard Estate.Everywhere else, almost, names and titles have changed. But not at Ballard Estate.The British way of life continues here. In more ways than one. Including, obviously, in this story of love, intrigue, commerce, war and trade; and much more, played out across a colourful canvas in the Tropics.Which comes down to the ropes, the question eternal.What do you do when you fall in love, variously, in India?Spanning a timeline from the Second World War to the '70s and then the '80s, and then into the present, geography from Europe to India, and a cast of characters from every corner in between, "Tropic of Ballard" traces also the fortunes and intersecting paths of two starry-eyed lovers young, Philonia and Nicky, who use Bombay as the fulcrum of their larger stage.Intersecting their lives is the beautiful but mysterious brothel operator, Galina, with claims of Polish descent, and her multiple lovers, who cross the paths of the two lovers in this wild ride that is the middle of a trilogy, previous and first part being TRAIN TO GOA by the same author and also available online only at Amazon.Bombay as it was in the '70s. And then again in modern times.And all that happens there.(With plenty of juicy insinuations and gossip, sure, too)(This is a work of fiction but if you recognise somebdy, then it is not my fault you did!!)