Written late in Anita Desai's illustrious career, these three novellas ruminate on art and memory, illusion and disillusion, and the sharp divide between life's expectations and dreams and its realities. Set in India in the not too distant past, the stories' diverse surroundings and dramas frame universal themes, which illuminate the ways in which various aspects of the Indian culture can nourish or suffocate. All are served up with Desai's characteristic...

1870s India. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood--shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance--Biren devotes his life to effecting change. Just when his vision for the future begins to look hopeless, he meets Maya, the independent-minded daughter of a local educator, and...

Kaveri and Ramu investigate Indian street magic in 1922 Bangalore where they uncover a potential threat to the visiting Prince of Wales amidst cries for India's independence.

How far would you travel for love? In her sparkling memoir, journalist Alison Singh Gee learns that love, riches, and a place to call home can be found in the most unexpected places. Alison Singh Gee was a glamorous magazine writer with a serious Jimmy Choo habit, a weakness for five-star Balinese resorts, and a reputation for dating highborn British men. Then she met Ajay, a charming and unassuming Indian journalist, and her world turned upside...

Sikhism in India follows Pulkit and her family in the Punjab. Join her as she makes flower garlands, celebrates Guru Nanak's birthday, and helps to make langar, a feast at the gurdwara.

"In this true story about two women and the animal they share, readers are treated to an insider's view of India, as well as a window into our universal connection to food and its sources."--

Traveling to India to scatter her late father's ashes, a grieving Bijou abandons her life in Washington, D.C., to pursue the truth about why her parents severed their ties to their native culture, an effort during which she is drawn to the son of her father's closest comrade.

"Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel history of India's engagement with sport and a probing analysis of its cultural and political development. Sen follows the transformation of sport from an elite, kingly pastime to a national obsession. He pays special attention to the dominance of cricket in the Indian consciousness and the chronic failure in international competition. Sen captures the political nature of sport in India and reveals centuries-old patterns...