In the foothills of the Himalayas sits a once grand, now crumbling house – home to three people and a dog. There is the retired judge dreaming of colonial yesterdays; his orphaned granddaughter Sai who has fallen for her clever maths tutor; the cook whose son Biju writes untruthful letters home from New York City; and Mutt, whose bark is worse than her bite.

Around the house swirls mountain mist – but also the forces of revolution and change. For a new world is clashing with the old, and the future offers both hope and betrayal …

Man Booker Prize for Fiction : Winner 2006