Melanie Purvis knows when she marries Indian doctor Avtar Singh that she must give up a way of life she has always loved. Raised in the west of England, she is deeply attached to the countryside and to her grandfather and the family home. But she loves Avtar, and she is willing to become a part of his world, even if that means living in India and sharing a house with his family.

Arriving in Chandigarh, in northern India, Melanie receives a warm welcome from all of Avtar's relations except Aunt Asha, who seems to resent not only Melanie's happiness but also her Englishness. At first Avtar's love is enough to sustain Melanie as she tries to adapt to life in an essentially alien land. But Melanie never really feels at home-with her new country or with herself.

It's three years since she's seen England, and Melanie feels she must visit her grandfather an old man who cannot live much longer. Avtar is strangely opposed to her trip, afraid, perhaps, that if she leaves India she'll never return.

When a letter from England forces Melanie to a moment of decision, she knows that whatever she does, her life with Avtar will never again be the same.

A NOVEL OF INDIA BY THE AUTHOR OF THE DISPUTED CROWN

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