"In the heat and clamor of the ancient city of Hyderabad, Layla and her mother, their faces veiled behind chadors, rush through the city's narrow alleys. It is two days before Layla's marriage to a man she hardly knows, and the family is in crisis. Layla has begun to defy the union the family has so carefully arranged for her." "Convinced her daughter must be possessed, Amme forces her to visit an alim, a mystic healer, reputed to see the truth despite his blindness. Whether the alim glimpses the true nature of Layla's demon is unclear. But she soon realizes that she has no choice but to deny the freedoms she has known in America and submit to the marriage. If she doesn't, she will be banished from her family and everything she knows." "Her husband is a handsome, ambitious engineer, and to Layla's surprise, he provides her with exactly what she has yearned for: a home. Yet on their honeymoon in Madras, as the monsoon rains drum ceaselessly down outside, the air in the hotel room suddenly swirls thick with long-buried secrets."--Jacket.

Madras on rainy days

Samina Ali

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

/ /04

2003.500.4479