Enamored by the elegant life and progressive ideas of the white colonists in British India, fourteen-year-old Reva dreams of learning the English language, of getting an education and a smidgeon of empowerment that might come with it. When a hasty and peculiar marriage arrangement uproots Reva from her childhood in the plains to a village in the mountains, Reva’s dream falters under the conflicting demands of her new family and her own need to belong. Reva’s new home in the idyllic mountains also puts her in close proximity with the firangi, foreigners, and the harsh reality of foreign rule. As Reva navigates through a maze of risky decisions and deceptions, she is forced to examine the prickly issues of dominance, identity, and acceptance. She is forced to rethink her loyalties. Falling in love along the way with her much-older husband, a firm British loyalist, only complicates matters further.
“REVA is a touching and triumphant coming-of-age story of a progressive-minded young woman struggling to balance her dreams for an education with family demands and traditions. Readers will cheer for Reva as she embraces her own power and potential.” - Julie Tibbott, independent editor
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