Tamarind and the Star of Ishta

Tamarind’s really nervous about meeting her mum’s side of the family for the first time. She’s staying with them at their home deep in the Himalayan mountains for a whole week. While she’s there she wants to learn all she can about her mum, who died when Tamarind was a baby.

But from the moment Tamarind arrives it’s clear that this is a house of secrets. Everyone is very welcoming and it’s an almost magical place, except for the fact that she’s forbidden from going into half the garden and no one will talk about her mum. Why? What exactly happened all those years ago? Determined to find out, Tamarind follows a series of clues that lead her to a mysterious ring and a strange girl called Ishta that help her unlock her family’s silence and understand who she is.

This is an intriguing and emotional story which weaves together themes of identity, belonging and bereavement with mythology and magical realism, all within the stunning setting of a grand old house in India. Tamarind and her cousin Sufia are quite challenging characters, and the family’s reactions to Tamarind’s presence are sometimes surprising – but when Tamarind puts the pieces of the past together everything falls into place.