Dignity: From the award-winning author of Pigeon

‘EXQUISITE’ Fiona McFarlane, award-winning author of THE NIGHT GUEST

‘BEAUTIFUL’ Claire Fuller, award-winning author of BITTER ORANGE

‘BEGUILING’ Guinevere Glasfurd, Costa First Novel Award-shortlisted author of THE WORDS IN MY HAND

‘An Indian household can no more be governed peacefully without dignity and prestige, than an Indian Empire.’

THE COMPLETE INDIAN HOUSEKEEPER AND COOK, FLORA ANNIE STEEL & GRACE GARDINER

Magda is a former scientist with a bad temper and a sharp tongue, living alone in a huge house by the sea and getting through carers at a rate of knots. Until Susheela arrives.

The two women strike up an unlikely friendship: Magda’s no-nonsense approach to life turns out to be an unexpected source of strength for Susheela; and Susheela’s Bengali heritage brings back memories of Magda’s childhood in colonial India and of her mother’s struggle to fit in within the suffocating structure of the Raj’s ruling class.

Evelyn, Magda and Susheela. Three
women searching for a place to belong, somewhere to call home. Three
lives connected by a legacy of resentment, blood, guilt and hope.