Plot Summary

The events of the story take place in India, during the periods of the British Raj in the 1920s and the present day of the novel (in 1970s). A young English woman, searches for the truth about her greataunt Olivia (1920s).

The narrator discovers that Olivia was a woman smothered by the social restrictions placed upon her by British society. She falls in love with a Nawab and becomes pregnant with his child. Her decision to abort the baby results in a scandal. In discovering the truth about these events, the narrator also comes to fall in love with an Indian man, understand herself better and develops an interest in India.