The coming-of-age story of a privileged Asian-American who gets stranded in a nowhere town in the middle of India and has to rely on the kindness of strangers to help her find a way home.

Iris is visiting India from the US for the first time with her fiance, and not enjoying the experience. When she steps down off the train for a bottle of water at Shambala Junction, little does she know that her life is about to undergo a radical change. Stranded at Shambala, she becomes caught up in the drama of stallholder Aman’s battle to recover his lost child and this tests her courage and beliefs. Along the way, she finds real friendship, learns the meaning of love and is seduced by India, in all its vivacity and charm. Winner of the 4th Virginia Prize for Fiction * A thought-provoking new novel from Dipika Mukherjee, Virginia Prize for Fiction winner, Aurora Metro Books' biennial prize to encourage and promote new writing by women. * Mukherjee's debut novel was long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize (2011) and republished as Ode to Broken Things (Repeater, 2016).