Absolutely gorgeous reading. I was locked in after the first few pages. Pure escapism.

Excellent book, well worth reading, especially if one is open to exploring other cultures.

Roy is a wonderfully subtle writer, presenting her characters with insight and mapping the context in this Himalayan town. Recommended.

A fair attempt to recreate the feel for the contemporary lives of people in a remote mountain village. Plenty of interesting characters, but I didn't find any of them drawn fully enough to engage me. The "progress" in the region was sad to see, and some of the political struggles were kind of interesting, but not deeply enough described either. Diwan Sahib was the highlight of the story, though, and the end regarding his papers well done.