Set in 1920 India, readers are swept to the majestical world of Anuradha, a beautiful young girl who leaves her family to marry Vardhmaan, a doctor. The two begin their lives together discovering the nuances of love and negotiating their places in the new family they are creating. Their new life is not without challenges (a difficult mother-in-law), but they draw close together in a passionate relationship.

But their love is tested as their beautiful baby boy suffers a terrible accident. The mother-in-law becomes more interfering and Anuradha and Vardhmaan pull away from each other in their grief.

I usually don't look at other reviews before I write mine, but I was so moved by this book that I wanted some balance before I put my opinion down. But the one other review I read just made me more set in how I feel about this beautiful book. That reviewer wrote, for instance, that the plot meandered. And in retrospect, I suppose that it did. But when I was reading the pages of this debut novel, it felt less an aimless wandering than the very real meandering that we all do in our daily lives. I was pulled into the relationship between Anuradha and Vardhmaan and didn't surface until I had cried and turned the last pages.

The depths of emotion in this book were amazing and the beauty of the words painted those emotions into the very scenery. I have always found that the very best writers have a certain flow to their work, and I found that so with Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi.

And yes, several reviews say that the emotions are a trifle overblown. I can't say that I disagree, but I believed as I read that such expansiveness was intentional. I highly recommend this book, although I will caution that I truly cried, something that I rarely do. It's a beautiful work and I look forward to future books from this talented new author.