This streak of good fortune lasts until the seasonal monsoons arrive and ruin the rice harvest, forcing Rukmani to use up her savings for the family to survive and to make matters worse Ira’s husband returns her to her parents because she is infertile. Ira is now of marrying age and her parent make arrangements for her to be wed to a good family and things seem bright again for her family. This doesn’t last too long though as the two are soon terminated for organizing a strike. Initially, the additional income they bring goes a long way in helping alleviate their difficult living conditions. Nathan’s two eldest sons manage to find work there rather than work the family farm, a decision that breaks Nathan’s heart. Shortly after the birth of her sons a tannery, an establishment that fills the air with noxious odors, is built near their village and its presence turns their lives upside down. Every additional child born to the couple however puts a great strain on their finances and soon they find it difficult to make ends meet. She does not inform her husband that she has undergone infertility treatments that Kenny administers and as a result, Rukmani quickly becomes pregnant and delivers five sons in a short span of time. Concerned over her seeming inability to bear children, but more especially, sons for her husband, Rukmani pays a visit to her mother where she meets a foreign doctor named Kenny. Her good fortune quickly runs out as she fails to produce sons for Nathan in fact she fails to conceive over a period of six years. She gives birth to a beautiful young daughter they name Ira and her birth also heralds a bumper crop of rice. She settles into her new life as a young wife and soon conceives. Rukmani is fortunate though as Nathan treats her with compassion. Her family makes this difficult decision because they are now financially strapped. She is married off to Nathan, a tenant farmer, at the tender age of 12, despite being the daughter of a village leader and having received education.
The novel begins with the ruminations of an elderly woman named Rukmani on events that have transpired in the past. Written by Shreya Jain and other people who wish to remain anonymous
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