When Parul is barely 6 years previous, her father, Ahmed, decides to depart her with the Sens, a Hindu household of significantly superior monetary means. Parul and her household had turn out to be so poor that they had been on the point of hunger. Parul is taken in as a maid, however her standing within the rich household is discomfortingly ambiguous, a scarcity of readability highlighted by her relationship with Mohini Sen. As Parul grows up, Mohini turns into an in depth pal and a sort of sister but additionally an object of nice envy, a state of affairs sensitively portrayed by Roychowdhury: “How a lot she tried to belong in Mohini’s world, and the way unsuitable and poorly matched she was.” Furthermore, because the Sen household is Hindu, Parul is compelled to hide her Muslim religion. Parul’s estrangement from her circle of relatives members, who more and more treats her as not more than a supply of revenue, exacts a horrible emotional toll on her. She seeks solace in her Muslim spirituality, a clandestine attachment inspired by her secret boyfriend, Rahim. With spectacular nuance, the writer chronicles Parul’s rising emotional disaster, one which crescendos with a horrible alternative. Rahim, out of an offended, radical rejection of all infidels, asks Parul to commit an act of violence that may rely as a betrayal of her host household. Roychowdhury’s prose is deceptively easy and simple, however her story is deeply advanced—Parul’s life touches on the alienation skilled on account of spiritual identification, gender, and socio-economic class. Whereas that is pretty well-traveled literary floor, the writer’s remedy has a dramatic authenticity that makes it seem to be a recent rendering somewhat than the rehash of a components.