The Courtesans of Karim Street

A spiteful anonymous letter. The promise of a red-gold tree. And Megan Adams sets off on a ten thousand mile journey. From the scenic suburbs of Princeton and a high crime neighbourhood of Newark in USA, onwards to India, into the posh parts of New Delhi and the narrow bazars of the old city, Megan’s travel plucks her from the politics of American academia to bring her face to face with the lurking shadows of an untold past. On an entirely different journey is Naina, a young Indian woman who must navigate the stony, impenetrable divide between the old and new sides of Delhi every day. Inheritor of an ancient tradition, she can still hear – above the wail of bangle-sellers and kabadiwallahs, the smoky, guttural rasps of the newer factories, and the old city’s metallic din of lathes – the music of the sarangi and the tinkling whisper of anklets. As their stories and cultures collide, a saga unfolds, of love, loss and liberation, of timeless friendships, and of impossible choices.