First published 2014
Idha comes from a middle-class family that wants to arrange her marriage and secure her future. She meets a charismatic young man who offers her something different. Through him, she discovers the hidden pleasures of Delhi and her own body. She begins living a double life, moving between her family's expectations and the illicit thrills of her secret relationship. Her lover drinks heavily and his behavior becomes increasingly erratic and violent. As their affair deepens, his instability pulls them both toward a point where there is no going back. The relationship exposes Idha to a Delhi filled with corruption, rage and brutality. His madness begins to seep into her own mind. The story follows how desire and violence intertwine, showing what happens when a woman's search for freedom leads her into darkness. The novel ends tragically when her lover dies in a highway accident outside Delhi, his body broken on the road while trucks pass without stopping.
Genres: fiction, romance, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-romance, double-life, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Delhi
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage Digital
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, violence