Book summary

This debut novel is about a middle-aged Delhi man, Ram Karan, who extorts campaign money for his boss, who is running for office. Karan has a history of sexually abusing his daughter Anita, and now he tries to do the same with Anita's own daughter, a 12-year-old. Anita surprises him in the act, and her vengeance--repressed all these years--surfaces at last, and threatens her father with destruction. A New York Times Notable Book for the year 2000.

Media reviews

"[L]ike a combination of Iago and Humbert Humbert (with a dash of Hannibal Lecter thrown in), Karan is bewitching because of his inability to grasp the magnitude of his cruelties to others....Throughout this gripping novel, Karan remains a curiously vulnerable villain."