Rumi Vasi, the daughter of two Indian émigrés, has a gift for numbers. Her father, a self-made mathematics professor, believes that strict discipline is the key to nurturing her genius if the family has any hope of making its mark on its adoptive country. Between her father's ever more regimented study schedules and her mother's conservative beliefs about mingling with the opposite sex, Rumi has never had a chance to adapt socially. As her parents launch an increasingly intense campaign to make Rumi the youngest student ever to attend Oxford University, Rumi's mind drifts to other potent distractions, from music to love. Her family's fierce expectations of her will prove a combustible formula as Rumi is thrust into the adult world before she has had time to grow up. "Arresting…a coming of age story full of the mingled love and anger that animate families of every culture." "[Lalwani] conveys the confusions of Rumi's developing body and mind with charm and warmth…and pinpoints with genuine insight the bewilderment and anguish of a young woman marked out from her peers." "Not the least of Nikita Lalwani's achievements in this superb debut novel lies in her ability to present the tragedy of a gifted second-generation immigrant girl within the framework of larger throes: the conflict and isolation of strangers in a strange land, carrying the wounds of Partition…The novel is especially memorable for its sensuous power. Lalwani not only knows her characters' minds: she is able to record, in wincing detail, events within their very mouths." "A charming rite-of-passage novel…Lalwani's evocation of teenage dislocation is pitch-perfect and she inhabits her heroine's interior world with tender authority." "Nikita Lalwani's poignant, vivid debut beautifully describes the dramas of growing up. Her keen-eyed observations highlight what it means to be young, gifted and Asian and the way those three things can be a source of both pride and prejudice." "The novel's triumph is in elucidating the hurt of both child and parents…Rules abound in the world of mathematics, but Lalwani compellingly depicts the pain and pleasure of breaking the rules." "Observant, witty and stylistically original…The novel is a winner." "[A] penetrating coming-of-age debut…the pain and confusion [Lalwani] presents are deeply felt." "Compelling…Lalwani subverts the standard immigrant-identity clichés with surprises that bring everything tumbling down." "Lalwani's impressive debut exhibits deep empathy for her characters' cultural and emotional displacements." "The crisp tones of this narration keep the pace moving forward…Narrator Sneha Mathan creates authentic-sounding accents that…provide a more authentic atmosphere."
