He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost-and he knows that he must return. As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta. AN ATLAS OF IMPOSSIBLE LONGING is also a true portrait of India, as it moves from colonization, independence, Partition and beyond, dealing with subjects such as the caste system, the unfair treatment of widows, the Hindu-Muslim rivalry and the riots near the Partition years. Confined in a room at the top of the house, a matriarch goes slowly mad her husband searches for its cause as he shapes and reshapes his garden. Bakul, a motherless daughter, runs wild with Mukunda, an orphan of unknown caste adopted by the family. A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. On the outskirts of a small town in Bengal, a family lives in solitude in their vast new house. He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost–and he knows that he must return.This is why we read fiction at all' raves the 'Washington Post' Family life meets historical romance in this critically acclaimed, 'gorgeous, sweeping novel' ('Ms Magazine') about two people who find each other when abandoned by everyone else, marking the signal American debut of an award-winning writer who richly deserves her international acclaim.

As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta.

“This is why we read fiction at all” raves the Washington Post: Family life meets historical romance in this critically acclaimed, “gorgeous, sweeping novel” ( Ms Magazine) about two people who find each other when abandoned by everyone else, marking the signal American debut of an award-winning writer who richly deserves her international acclaim.

An atlas of impossible longing