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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
The book opens on a suicide attempt
Language
Some
Lakshmi's broken-English narration and Maggie's clinical voice both stay clean
Sexual Content
A lot
Maggie's 'reckless affair' outside a thirty-year marriage is central and its sexual dimension is acknowledged directly, though Kirkus describes the book's interest as thematic rather than explicit
Substance Use
Barely any
Minimal
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Suicide attempt, immigrant isolation, a husband who controls his wife through work demands and cut-off family, a therapist's boundary collapse, and a late revelation in which Lakshmi recasts herself as the one who did harm
What this book is about
Maggie Bose takes on Lakshmi, hospitalized after trying to kill herself, and treats her outside the clinic: driving lessons, a catering business, friendship. Then Lakshmi's account of her own past rearranges who the villain is, and she learns something about Maggie's marriage that she can use.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Suicide attempt
Infidelity
Emotional abuse and isolation in a marriage
Therapist boundary violations
Reader Verification
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