Description

Anna-Marie Souza lives in Horton, a suburb on the hem of London, a far

cry from the city of Bombay from which her parents had arrived one cold

December day in 1989, two Goans in search of a new life. Born in this land

of their dreams, raised in a broken home, Anna-Marie has grown up into a

state of constant and indefinable yearning. She belongs to the sisterhood of

swans seeking to pair for life, curving their necks to entwine with the perfect

mate. Only, she has realized, her species is fated to disappointment. Her

disastrous choice in men is fuelled not just by a chaotic childhood but by a loss

of sexual agency as she embarks on a series of doomed relationships.

Set against a cast of intriguing female characters-Anna-Marie's Indian-hating

Indian mother; her best mate, Sujata, haunted by thoughts of suicide; and

Jassie, the sharp-tongued beautician at Bollywood Style Salon-is an ensemble

of men who are serial philanderers or, worse still, token brown Conservative

party members. In this shaky world, Anna-Marie navigates through the pain of

a troubled coming of age, while trying to find her place as a second-generation

Indian immigrant.