Charlotte's End

Raymond de Villiers is a wealthy English aristocrat with a young adoring wife. His first wife, the beautiful, captivating Charlotte, died in mysterious circumstances. Their old, historic country house, Lanverndel, on the Devon coast is suddenly destroyed by fire. Lanverndel and Charlotte's shadow haunt the de Villiers constantly as dramatic events in their lives take them through the French Riviera,the outbreak of the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic, and back to wartime England.

Charlotte’s End by Veena S Rao The first Indian author who has boldly and effortlessly written a ‘pure’ English novel - about a completely English theme with English characters and background, in wartime England and Europe, matching the best of English literary fiction.

Author Veena S Rao

She’s an unusual bureaucrat with a difference!
Yes, the author of this sunny romance, a ‘daring English county novel by an India writer’, as it has been called, deeply rooted in the English literary tradition, is a retired bureaucrat of the Indian Administrative Service, (IAS). She retired as Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry for the Development of the North East Region. Clearly, she breaks the stereotype of the traditional, stolid bureaucrat. After a distinguished career in the Government of Karnataka and the Government of India, she has stepped into the world of creativity and literary talent, with equal distinction. A Post Graduate in Political Science from the University of Jammu and Kashmir, and in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, (Wolfson College), she started her career as Assistant Commissioner of Chikmagalur Sub Division in 1974, and has served as Deputy Commissioner of Coorg and Bellary Districts, Divisional Commisioner, Bangalore Division, Managing Director of the Handicraft and Handloom Development Corporations, and Secretary to Government of Karnataka in various capacities. In 1999, she was deputed to Government of India as Joint Secretary in the Department of Women & Child Development, where she acquired expertise in one of the most critical problems facing India today – malnutrition. That continues to be the central core of her work, even after retirement, and she has taken several initiatives in this regard with the Government of India and Government of Karnataka. She has led several delegations and represented Government of India at the UN, at UNICEF, ADB, and SAARC on issues relating to Child Rights, Malnutrition and Trafficking of Women and Children. Today, she is an expert on development issues and governance, particularly malnutrition, and writes extensively in national and international publications, including the British Medical Journal. She works closely with Government of Karnataka, the World Bank, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, (GAIN) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Sussex, UK. Presently, she is piloting projects addressing malnutrition through the inter-generational, inter-sectoral strategy conceptualized by her, in partnership with the World Bank and the Government of Karnataka. ‘Charlotte’s End’ is her first work of fiction.

Major Publications:

1. Malnutrition an Emergency: What it Costs the Nation, 2008 (CAPART Publication, New Delhi)
2. Manual for Judicial Officers for Combating Trafficking, 2006 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
3. Rescue and Rehabilitation of Child Victims of Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
4. Manual for Social Workers dealing with Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
5. Manual for Medical Officers dealing with Trafficking, 2005 (UNICEF-GOI Publication, New Delhi)
6. Convention on the Rights of the Child - Ist Periodic Report, 2003 (Ministry of Women & Child Development Publication, New Delhi)
7. The Indian Child: A Profile, 2003 (Ministry of Women and Child Development Publication, New Delhi)
8. Edited: “North East Region: VISION 2020”, 2008 (Ministry of DONER Publication)
9. Chaired the Expert Committee of the Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India for its publication on “Essential Interventions for Reducing Malnutrition in Girls and Women in India” 2009
10. Contributed a Paper to “Undernutrition and Public Policy in India, Investing in the Future” 2016, (Routledge)