Akash Kapur has a unique perspective on India. Raised there but educated in the United States from the age of sixteen, this son of an Indian father and an American mother returned to his country of birth for good in 2003, eager to be part of its exciting growth and modernization. What he found was a nation even more transformed than he had imagined, where the changes were fundamentally altering Indian society-for better and for worse. As he met a number of Indians-young and old, across all classes-he saw how their stories reflected the dilemmas of contemporary India, not just in the urban centers but in rural areas, too, where the process of change was even more layered and complex. Here, he has woven his experience together with the stories of these people, revealing the rich tapestry of India through the eyes and lives of real characters. Kapur's rare ability to witness India from the vantage point of both insider and outsider allows him to illustrate to a Western audience the moving nuances of India's transformation, in a riveting narrative that puts the personal into a broad, relevant, and revelatory context.