When Mayadevi, aged 70, 75 or 80, depending on her mood, decides to goto London, she knows it will mean a year of penance to wash away the sins ofcrossing the ocean. But if her son will not come to her, Mayadevi must go toher son.

In 'Fish Curry Memories', Leela spends her nights cooking curries on order,so that she can buy a ticket back from London to Delhi, and escape the life ofunpaid maidservant to her nephew and his wife. In between these two stories, are other journeys, ghosts, and a murder ortwo.

Anadi crosses the river from Bishtupur to cities far away, only to find thatit takes a chance meeting with a bedraggled stranger to transport him backhome. Roopbala makes a pilgrimage to Badrinath to atone for a crime she hadcommitted years ago-or had she? Soni in 'A Murder in the Wedding Season'is faced with a dilemma-is Banno Bua victim or criminal? Just as the readermust ponder whether it is Pinky and her brother in 'Child-thief' who shouldbe punished, or the people from whom they steal.

Spanning a period of 30 years, from 'Rites of Passage', written in 1992, tonew stories published here for the first time, this collection showcases thefinest stories by a writer famed and loved for her gentle humour, lightness oftouch and compassionate understanding of the human heart. .