The Temple Dancer by John Speed - Book Review

The Temple Dancer: A Novel of India is a fun and suspenseful trip through 17th-century India. Author John Speed introduces a smorgasbord of interesting and colorful characters, both native to India and part of the Portuguese colonial presence. Readers interested in a historical, adventurous story heavy on romance and intrigue will be pleased with The Temple Dancer.

The plot of The Temple Dancer can either be explained very simply—it’s a novel of India, as the cover proclaims—or in complicated detail. The Temple Dancer could more specifically be explained as the story of a Portuguese family living in Goa, selling a former temple dancer as a concubine of sorts to a powerful man who can help guarantee the family’s future success. The temple dancer must be transported across the country to her wealthy new owner, and the Portuguese heiress and her shifty cousin make the journey-by-elephant too, along with a few soldiers and a eunuch whom everyone mistrusts.

If that makes little sense to you, don’t worry; you’ll pick up what’s going on with the help of a list of characters and map provided at the beginning of the book. Speed’s novel is full of mentions of historical events, Indian culture, and Hindi phrases. This is part of the book’s appeal for those looking to learn something new, but can also be confusing.

The story is fast-paced and suspenseful, laced with royal intrigue and plenty of love affairs. The two main female characters are explored in some depth—each feels restrained and freed, at times, by her societal role—but Speed doesn’t spend as much time letting the reader into the mind of Slipper the eunuch, one of the book’s more interesting characters. Overall, The Temple Dancer is an enjoyable, interesting read, but might not appeal to readers looking for a novel that challenges the reader or breaks new literary ground.