The book depicts the struggles of 12 year old Maya who rebels against her family and social norms in pursuit of freedom. She refuses an arranged marriage and escapes home to get an education in a catholic boarding school. Eventually she lands in America of the 1960s and is embroiled in emotional and spiritual struggles as she realizes the wider ramifications of freedom. She returns on the brink of globalization and finds the traditional society at home withering and heading towards dissolution. India 1940s and radical American campus 1960s! American Dream of an Indian girl that ends with an unexpected twist! .a richly imagined and deeply felt testimony to the timeless human impulse that informs all our lives. Dr. Robert Hamburger Professor of English, New Jersey City University