Age of Elephants

'The filaments that enmeshed them in Durbar Court were the storiesthey wove. Leila, who never contributed any herself, claimed thatwithout them the resident behemoths would fall permanently asleep. Itwas a soporific summer. An extraordinary summer, as if the mechanismof the seasons had broken down, stranding them in a time locked vaultof cloudless blue. The garden parasols were giant sundials aroundwhich carousels of shadow clocked the intervals from breakfast tosupper. Only the bearers punctuated the hours, padding out to themwith trays of lemon cordial and iced tea.' This second novel by Peter Moss, whose first,The Singing Tree, wasdescribed by theNew York Timesas ?a little gem?, draws heavily uponhis memories of an Indian childhood to populate a recreated cameo ofimperial India, set on the south coast of England. Here relics of theBritish Raj, living out their sequestered lives immersed in nostalgia fora long lost world, lead a casual visitor to confront memories he hasdesperately endeavoured to erase.Moss, Peter is the author of 'Age of Elephants' with ISBN 9780595395965 and ISBN 0595395961.