Author(s): Preethi Nair

Fiction.

There's East. There's West. And then there's Maya...

Maya, her mother, Nalini, and her brother, Satchin, have left a carefree life in India to come to England. But when Maya's father disappears, leaving only deceit and debt behind, they have to fend for themselves in a strange, damp land.

Maya doesn't know of her father's betrayal, though. Nalini, determined to preserve her children's pride, tells them that their father died in an accident and, as their struggle to make a life begins, whole realities are built on this lie. While Nalini cooks exotic pickles which enchant all who eat them, Maya begins to adapt to her new home âÃÂàthe unfamiliar food, the language, the music âÃÂàand then to explore and make bold plansâÃÂæplans that her mother does not understand.

But even a white lie cannot remain hidden forever âÃÂàand when the truth resurfaces, it changes everything...