MEENA KAUL is riding high in her position as director of Behera House, a safe haven in India for women who have survived domestic violence. But when the stock market crashes, Meena’s loses her funding for a new campus. The right-wing Hindu Democratic Party (HDP), seeing an opportunity to win women’s votes before a national election, steps in with a multimillion-dollar grant.
Meena’s worse fears come to pass when the HDP wins the election and begins to chip away at a hundred years of progress on women’s rights. Meanwhile, Simon Bliss, America’s foremost “green” architect, arrives to design the flagship building of the new campus. Trapped in a stalled marriage, Simon falls for the bright and alluring Meena and is quickly sucked into the perilous world of Indian politics.
In his attempt to loosen the HDP’s grip on Meena and win her affection, Simon takes on reactionary politicians, shady priests, and crooked businessmen. In the process, he comes face to face with disturbing truths about his past, while Meena finds herself trapped in ways she never could have expected.
Langer has written an emotionally charged novel complete with forbidden love, murder, and corporate greed—all against the backdrop of an ancient country trying to find its identity in a fast-changing world.
