A collection of short stories by the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Mistress of Spices. A beautiful and poignant, award-winning collection which focuses on immigrants from India caught between two worlds.For the women brought to life in these stories, the possibility of change, of starting anew, is at once terrifying and filled with promise, like the ocean that separates them from their homes in India.For them, independence is a mixed blessing.It means walking the tightrope between old treasured beliefs and surprising newfound desires.From the story of a young bride whose fairy-tale vision of California is shattered when her husband is murdered, forcing her to face the future on her own, to a proud middle-aged divorcee determined to succeed in the new world, Divakaruni creates eleven unforgettable portraits of women on the verge of transformation.

Author Biography

Born in India, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni lives near San Francisco with her husband and two children. She teaches creative writing at a local college, and is the coordinator for a helpline for South Asian women. She is the author of several award-winning volumes of poetry, as well as Arranged Marriage, her acclaimed collection of short stories, a bestseller in America and winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Prize for fiction, an American Book Award, and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for fiction. She is also the author of two novels, The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart.