Betsy Woodman draws upon her vivid memories of growing up in India—playing hide–and-seek in the Mughal tomb behind her house in New Delhi, studying the dance styles of Bharat Natyam, and attending boarding school at the foot of the Himalayas—to write her gleefully charming Jana Bibi Adventure series. Love Potion Number 10 (Henry Holt; on sale August 13, 2013) is the second installment of this series, and Woodman’s hardcover debut, following the success of the beloved Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes.
In her recent book, Jana, her loyal parrot, and the gang at the Jolly Grant House are back as their small town in India is rocked by an espionage scandal and a homemade remedy that has love on everyone’s mind. Jana’s fortune-telling has brought a lot of attention to the small town of Hamara Nagar, and now that the dust has settled and the town is safe from the threat of being flooded by a government dam, all eyes are on the Scottish-born card-reader Jana and her feisty, loose-beaked parrot, Mr. Ganguly. Some people, though, are not to be trusted, and Mr. Ganguly finds himself the target of a potential kidnapping that puts Jana and her household on edge.