Vikram Seth

Set in India in the early 1950s, this novel is the story of ordinary people caught in a web of love and ambition, humor and sadness, prejudice and reconciliation, the most delicate social etiquette and the most appalling violence.

Amid the cultural upheaval of 1950s India, Lata is torn between romance and responsibility, while her wayward brother-in-law Maan has a perilous affair with a glamorous courtesan.