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.