Born into poverty, Kishan Chand Das marries his childhood sweetheart and builds a fortune, but in 1905, when India is firmly in the grip of the Raj, he abandons it all to fight British rule. His young family's survival is threatened. Willful Leela-his teenage daughter-in-law-and errant son Ishaan, gather the pieces but when the aged patriarch dies from beatings inflicted at a peaceful protest, the family is once again torn apart.
Journalist son Adrith leaves home to rouse the nascent Calcutta underground with fiery speeches and joins a revolutionary army. Fearless, outspoken, convent-educated Anita becomes the third generation Chand to continue the freedom fight, but she falls in love with the enemy-handsome Sergeant Ludlow. Can she, her family, and India, survive the hastily drawn line on a map far away, that cleaved houses, loved ones, and neighbors alike-the price of independence?
"An evocative, well-imagined portrayal of late-colonial India through one family's eyes."
- Kirkus Reviews
"Raman has an eye for historical detail, like Kishan's assessment of a train car ("clean symmetrical lines, padded leather seats, side panels adorned with windows...the coach, designed and built by the American Car & Foundry Company…"), and a solid grasp of the real history that shapes the lives of the fictional characters.
The writing is strong…the thoughtful exploration of the experience of colonialism makes the story a rewarding read..."
