Love Potion Number 10
A Jana Bibi Adventure
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In the newest Jana Bibi adventure from Betsy Woodman, Jana, Mr. Ganguly, and the gang are back as their small town in India is rocked by an espionage scandal and a homemade remedy that has love on everyone's mind
The Jolly Grant House still welcomes all its visitors with the sign Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes hanging proudly outside its front door. Jana's fortune-telling has brought a lot of attention to the small town of Hamara Nagar, and now that the dust has settled and the town is safe from the threat of being flooded by a government dam, all eyes are on the Scottish-born card-reader Jana and her feisty, loose-beaked parrot, Mr. Ganguly. Some people, though, are not to be trusted, and Mr. Ganguly finds himself the target of a potential kidnapping that puts Jana and her household on edge.
Meanwhile, love is in the air and, thanks to Abenath's Apothecary, it's also in a bottle. Abenath has created an intoxicating brew that he calls Love Potion Number 10, which seems to have Jana in a tizzy. While she explores her newest hobby, dream interpretation, her head is swimming with questions: Is a new love possible at age fifty-nine? If so, would she ever marry again? All around her she sees different kinds of love and connection—family, arranged marriages, chemical attractions, even intercontinental romance between people who have only met through letters—so when an old flame arrives and rekindles long-gone feelings, Jana begins to think that Love Potion Number 10 just might be the magic elixir its inventor thinks it is.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this serviceable sequel to Jana Bibi's Excellent Fortunes, Woodman returns to Jana's quiet yet colorful existence in 1960s India. Now officially saved from a planned dam construction, the town of Hamara Nagar is enjoying newfound fame as an enclave for philosophers. Jana, the resident fortune teller, decides to take up dream interpretation after she, newspaper editor Rambir, and Treasure Emporium owner Ramachandran decide that "home of dreams" would be a nice nickname for the town. Meanwhile, everyone in Jana's bustling household, from her longtime ayah (nursemaid), Mary Thomas, to 11-year-old messenger boy Tilku, think that what's missing from her life is a husband. A visit from Jana's wealthy friends Lily and Cyrus, accompanied by Cyrus's recently widowed cousin and business partner Max King, lead to hopes that Max might fill this role. But the high-society trio's lifestyle and investment plans for Hamara Nagar clash with Jana's simple existence. The first book's large cast of characters is underused here, while a subplot about attempts to steal Jana's loquacious parrot, Mr. Ganguly, adds to the book's haphazard feel. Those interested in revisiting Hamara Nagar should enjoy seeing Jana again, but the story is unlikely to win over newcomers.