Book Review - A Painter in Penang (Penang series Book 3) by Clare Flynn

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Barrington hates everything about living in Kenya and longs to return to the island of Penang in British colonial Malaya where she was born. Expulsion from her Nairobi convent school offers a welcome escape – the chance to stay with her parents’ friends, Mary and Reggie Hyde-Underwood on their Penang rubber estate.

This evocative book is the third in a trilogy set in mostly in Penang, I can confirm that A Painter in Penang works perfectly well as a ‘stand alone’ book, although I’ve added the first two books in the series to my TBR list, as I suspect there are more complexities to the relationships than I was aware of.

I grew up in the Ngong Hills of Kenya and could identify with aspects Jasmine’s life in Nairobi, walking long distances in shimmering heat, fresh mango juice and house 'boys' (who were often in their thirties).

Jasmine's coming of age story really begins in chapter four, once the location shifts to Penang. I knew nothing about Penang, or the guerrilla war which became the Malayan Emergency, and now I’m keen to find out more – and visit Malaysia!

Clare Flynn is an accomplished author with a highly readable style, and her passion for the period and telling good stories set in exotic locations shines through.

Tony Riches.

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About the Author

Clare Flynn is the author of twelve historical novels and a collection of short stories. A former International Marketing Director and strategic management consultant, she is now a full-time writer. Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Sydney, home is now on the coast, in Sussex, England, where she can watch the sea from her windows. An avid traveller, her books are often set in exotic locations. Clare is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of The Society of Authors, Novelists Inc (NINC), ALLi, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists Association, where she serves on the committee as the Member Services Officer. When not writing, she loves to read, quilt, paint and play the piano. She continues to travel as widely and as far as possible all over the world. Find out more at Clare's website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @clarefly