Married as a child bride to a tenant farmer she had never met, Rukmani works side by side in the field with her husband to wrest a living from a land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With remarkable fortitude and courage, she meets changing times and fights poverty and disaster.

This beautiful and eloquent story tells of a simple peasant woman in a primitive village in India whose whole life is a gallant and persistent battle to care for those she loves--an unforgettable novel that "will wring your heart out" (Associated Press).

Includes an Introduction by Indira Ganesan
And an Afterword by Thrity Umrigar