A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. On the outskirts of a small town in Bengal, a family lives in solitude in their vast new house. “This is why we read fiction at all” raves the Washington Post: Family life meets historical romance in this critically acclaimed, “gorgeous, sweeping novel” ( Ms Magazine) about two people who find each other when abandoned by everyone else, marking the signal American debut of an award-winning writer who richly deserves her international acclaim. 'An incandescently evocative debut novel filled with wrenching tragedy as well as abiding passion.' - Booklist Reseña del editor: A sprawling epic of love, class and ambition.' - Denver Post 'A novel to convince us that boldly drawn sagas with larger-than-life characters are still possible in a relentlessly postmodern world. From her whirlwind opening sentences, readers know they're in for a ride.' - Star Tribune (Minneapolis) 'Roy's prose soars with a lyricism that can take your breath away. Roy is a writer to watch.' - The SeattleTimes the story and characters stay with the reader for a long time. Roy weaves a tapestry of family life in India. With her rich imagination, vivid descriptions, and skillful handling of events. 'Set in mid-twentieth-century India, this debut novel spans generations and political upheavals, both the strength of domestic bonds and the wounds that parents and children, and husbands and wives, inflict on each other.' - The New Yorker defines her characters quickly and skillfully, she has a keen eye for landscape, and she knows how private lives can suggest the larger shape of the public world.' - The New York Times 'Roy's prose does not hit a single wrong note: its restrained beauty sings off the page.' -Neel Mukherjee, Time Magazine This is why you read fiction at all.' - The Washington Post

This, you think, is the feeling you had as you read Great Expectations or Sophie's Choice or The Kite Runner. s you slip into the book's pages, you sense you are entering a singular creation. 'Every once in a great while, a novel comes along to remind you why you rummage through shelves in the first place. Praise for An Atlas of Impossible Longing:

An atlas of impossible longing