In 1960 S. K. Sharma, a brilliant young astrophysicist at the beginning of his academic career, has finally succeeded in bringing his wife, Sushila, from India to America. Intensely drawn to one another as star university students, the couple pursued an unlikely affair and marriage that crossed caste lines.
Thus begins a sweeping, decades-long story of love, forgiveness, and coming of age in a country that is both fascinated by and shuns their racial identities. The United States, with its exaltation of individualism, offers immense opportunities, but its looser sexual mores threaten to undermine the family’s happiness and devotion to one another.
As their three daughters become young women and face middle age, they must navigate the tumultuous decades of the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the women’s liberation movement. As for many immigrant children, the bar is set high for success, and in their journeys of self-discovery they upend their parents’ hold on them to craft radically new identities for themselves. The heart of their parents’ marriage remains a mystery, creating unexpected challenges for the daughters, who must learn along the way the power of love and forgiveness to overcome the most uncomfortable truths.