Behind the Veil

In "Behind the Veil," a romantic Indian Muslim woman falls in love with a man on the basis of a story he wrote. She conjures up an unshakable image of him and forces her family to arrange her marriage to him--sight unseen. Her relatives and friends try to dissuade her, but she remains adamant. She finally meets her husband on the wedding night and gets the shock of her life--but that's just the beginning of her story. Unfolding against a sweeping vista of a changing India, the novel brims with unforgettable portraits of men and women, princes and commoners, Muslims and Hindus. It vividly portrays a time and place, and the passions, vanities, insecurities, insights and errors of its very human characters.