Gita Mehta's captivating and enchanting novel tells the story of a retired bureaucrat who has escaped the world to spend his twilight years running a guest-house on the banks of the country's holiest river, the Narmada. But he has chosen the wrong place for peace and quiet: too many lives converge here and he meets a series of unusual characters including a privileged young executive bewitched by a mysterious lover; a novice Jain monk moving from opulence to poverty; and a woman with a golden voice and a broken heart.

As the bureaucrat moves from story to story he ponders the meaning of each tale and the potent belief and the dark secrets which the river hides within her.