The Much praised, beautifully written, colourful tale peopled by madcap characters, in which a young girl goes to Bombay to marry a man she has never met
As young Anuradha boards a train for Bombay, where she will marry a man she has never met, peacocks appear out of nowhere to serenade her. Such a dazzling departure can only lead to an uncertain but exciting future. Sure enough, across her path come a host of colourful characters: Nandini, the artist who walks on water and has a passion for panthers; Mr Bunkusdaas, the father of Bollywood cinema; Diva bai, the sinister old woman rumoured to have fed her sister to crocodiles; and Percival Worthington, the aristocratically limp son of the governor of Bombay.
Together they conjure a forgotten world of betrayed love, of dangerous desires and unfathomable sorrow - creating an Indian melody that will haunt you long after the tale is done.
'A magical debut..Madcap characters shimmy across the pages, throwing out slangy witticisms with insouciant charm. Delicious' Elle
Author
About Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
A born and bred Bombaywallah, Shanghvi was educated in India, England and America. He has written for The Sunday Times of India, Elle and the San Francisco Chronicle. Born in 1977, he has an MA in International Journalism and an MS In Mass Communications, and has worked as a chef, a kennel boy, and a storyteller.
