This is a novella, and rather an allusive one. It seems to spring from a single idea but doesn’t really follow through. All the questions about the central character’s mother remain unanswered and are suddenly shelved. There is little backstory, just a lot of immediacy which is vibrant and colorful but not wholly satisfying. Yes, Destini’s a fine writer and observer, but this work is limited.

Desai's novella is a quick, yet puzzling read where readers wonder about the main characters, a young woman, Bonita, from India studying abroad in San Miguel, Mexico, who meets a woman who claims to have met her mother decades earlier, in San Miguel. Bonita has never heard of her mother visiting San Miguel, yet, the woman persuades her that he mother came and hung out with artists, revolutionaries, painting images of Partition, trains, and violence. The novel is magical and mystical, yet, leaving readers to ponder what's real and unreal, the way Bonita questions her experiences with this woman. Perhaps, if we knew more about the mother and daughter, more would have been more clear, more relevant.