Toad in my garden

'Ruchira Mukerjee's "Toad in my Garden" is the story of two women, Megha and Damyanti, one young and the other middle-aged, whose domestic lives are irrevocably shaken by the appearance of Oxford-educated Ashwin. One of the novel's strong points is its driving narrative, another is its choice of the small-town setting of Allahabad, in north India, instead of the oft-used metropolitan map. Mukerjee paints the town's exterior and interior characteristics with vividness and subtlety. The novel is psychologically acute and rich in detail and atmosphere . . . With this novel Ruchira Mukerjee makes a confident start to what one hopes will be a long career' Sudeep Sen, " Guardian" 'Mukerjee pinpoints the historical moment of her story exactly, showing us Indian responses to such events as the publication of "The Female Eunuch." Her sense of the importance of crowds in Indian life is also acute . . . Mukerjee handles some tricky subject matter with an admirable lightness of touch, and her startling ending is well worth the wait' Andrew Biswell, "Daily Telegraph"