Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books Set Outside the USA

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link up hosted by The Broke & the Bookish. It's Wednesday here in Australia so I'm late. This week the topic is: Ten Books Set Outside the U.S.A. Here are some that I've enjoyed and I've linked to any previous reviews I've written:


China

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (1925)





This is an unusual and almost bizarre story that grabs you from the very first page. It is set partly in England but mostly in China and Hong Kong when the latter was under British rule in the 1920's.
Shallow but likeable in many ways; beautiful, outgoing and frivolous, twenty-five year old Kitty, afraid of being left on the shelf after spending her youth partying and flirting, and declining a number of marriage proposals, marries Walter Fane, an intense, introverted, young doctor. They go to live in Hong Kong where he has been working in bacteriology and while there Kitty becomes involved with a married man.
Walter discovers her unfaithfulness and forces Kitty to face the truth that her 'lover' had no intention of leaving his own wife and was just using her. Walter gives his wife an ultimatum whereby her only available option is to travel with him to a cholera ravaged outpost in China.
The story doesn't sound very appealing!! but I loved the author's writing and his exploration of Kitty's gradual awakening of conscience and development of character.
It is a little sad; Walter is a tragic sort of character. The ending wasn't perfect, but as good as it probably could be considering the circumstances. Overall, I think it's a very interesting and absorbing read.

Belarus

The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy

In June 1941 Hitler's armies invaded Russia in what was known as Operation Barbarossa, and quickly advanced to the city of Novogrudek in Western Belarus where they began to impose regulations to control the Jewish population and set up the Novogrudek ghetto. This is the story of three Jewish  brothers who waged a guerilla warfare against the Nazis and created a 'Jerusalem in the woods.'

India

Death of a Guru by Rabindranath R Maharaj

A fascinating and wonderfully engaging book first published in the 1970's at the height of Eastern Mysticism's introduction into the western world.

Iran

The House I Left Behind by Dr. Daniel Shayesteh

This book is a unique insight into the life of a practicing Muslim through the lens of a man raised in an Iranian (Persian) culture dominated by fundamentalist Islam (historically Iran has not always been Muslim and defended its Persian heritage for many years despite Arabic invasions).

It's the story of a man who desired democracy and economic justice for his country and believed the Iranian Revolution which deposed the Shah of Iran and opened the door for the rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 would be the means of accomplishing this.

I wrote a little about it here.


England

Cover Her Face by P.D James - written in 1962, this was P.D James's first novel. Her books give very picturesque descriptions of the English landscape.


France

Pied Piper by Nevil Shute - Shute is an author who never fails to please. His characters are just normal everyday sorts of people with their flaws and weaknesses, but he places them in exceptional circumstances that call upon all their resources. A very satisfying book with an unusual plot and twist at the end.

Germany


All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - the best book on World War I that I've ever read. Written by a German who fought on the front and a book not to be missed!


Egypt


The Tragedy of the Korosko by Arthur Conan Doyle

In 1895 the steamer, S.W. Korosko, set out from Shellal, a small village in Upper Egypt, with an assorted group of English, Irish and American tourists on board. Their intention was to travel up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile, visiting the various points of interest along the way, but during one of their excursions they were kidnapped by a group of Arab dervishes and plunged into a world steeped in seventh century ideas and practice.


Lebanon

Nothing Else Matters by Patricia St. John - a young adult book set during the civil war in Lebanon during the 1970's.


Greece


Decision at Delphi by Helen McInnes - one of my favourite authors whose espionage books are set all through Europe.