"A haunting tale of generational echoes and social change in mid-twentieth-century Bihar.

Orphaned by death and discord, Ila spends her childhood on her grandfathers Kosi River estate, inhaling the soaking jute and savouring the sheer delight of waste and abundance as the Zamindari draws its last breath.

Her bright world fades to black when her estranged father sues for guardianship. Tiny and terrified, Ila is sent to Patna to live with a parent she has never known—and enters a reign of terror, her father bent on "reforming" her to avenge his expulsion by her mother. Forbidden to read the books she loves, forced to wear dowdy clothes and shushed at every turn, Ila dreams of escape. Yet when she finally has a chance, her choice is surprisingly difficult.

Set against a backdrop of feudal decline—cruel husbands, lazy judges, industrial evolution, and the wild winds of socialism—this tender first novel finds the complications in quiet lives, and the love that slips though even the most determined hatred." (jacket)