Amita Trasi Livres

In the spirit of Khaled Hosseini and Nadia Hashimi, this powerful debut unfolds the emotional journey of two childhood friends in Mumbai, India, whose lives are forever altered by a fateful night. In 1986, Mukta, a ten-year-old girl from the lower caste Yellama cult, faces her destiny as a temple prostitute, a fate inherited from her mother and grandmother. To escape, she becomes a house girl for an upper-middle-class family in Mumbai, where she finds solace in her friendship with eight-year-old Tara. Tara introduces Mukta to a world filled with ice cream, books, and a bond that deepens into sisterhood. However, in 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara's home, leading Tara and her father to relocate to America. Despite their new life in Los Angeles, Tara is haunted by the loss of her best friend and questions her role in Mukta's abduction. Eleven years later, now an adult, Tara returns to India, determined to find Mukta. Her search plunges her into the dark world of human trafficking, revealing hidden family secrets that may explain Mukta's past and her arrival in Tara's life. This poignant narrative weaves through traditional Indian villages, the vibrant city of Mumbai, and the complexities of life in Los Angeles, exploring themes of love, betrayal, and redemption.

A sweeping, emotional journey of two childhood friends—one struggling to survive the human slave trade and the other on a mission to save her—two girls whose lives converge only to change one fateful night in 1993. India, 1986: Mukta, a ten-year-old girl from the lower caste Yellamma cult of temple prostitutes has come of age to fulfill her destiny of becoming a temple prostitute. In an attempt to escape this legacy that binds her, Mukta is transported to a foster family in Bombay. There she discovers a friend in the high spirited eight-year-old Tara, the tomboyish daughter of the family, who helps her recover from the wounds of her past. Tara introduces Mukta to a different world—ice cream and sweets, poems and stories, and a friendship the likes of which she has never experienced before.As time goes by, their bond grows to be as strong as that between sisters. In 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara’s room. Eleven years later, Tara who blames herself for what happened, embarks on an emotional journey to search for the kidnapped Mukta only to uncover long buried secrets in her own family. Moving from a remote village in India to the bustling metropolis of Bombay, to Los Angeles and back again, amidst the brutal world of human trafficking, this is a heartbreaking and beautiful portrait of an unlikely friendship—a story of love, betrayal, and redemption—which ultimately withstands the true test of time.