In this riveting new collection, author Nila Gupta reveals intersections of contemporary Canadian and Indian cultures with raw authenticity. A young Canadian travels to India to explore her roots and find the woman who loved her like a daughter; a doctor struggles against military corruption as he investigates a soldier's suspicious injuries in Kashmir; a gay man returns to the India of his childhood in search of redemption for his betrayal of his first love. Readers take a rickety tin bus up the side of a mountain, taste the sweetness of ras gullas, experience the tension between a young Canadian-raised woman and her father and sink to the scented jostle of the ladies compartment on an Indian train.The characters in these vivid stories are dealing with universal struggles: who they are, what they can become and how they can find compassion within challenging circumstances. This debut collection will resonate with all those who have searched for their own identity and sought understanding in a world of contradictions.

Nila Gupta was born in Montreal and spent the early years of her life in Jammu, India before her family immigrated to Canada in 1967. She is the winner of the 2004 K.M. Hunter Award for Literature. Gupta has written and directed several short films as well as written and performed for the stage. She is currently completing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph-Humber.

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