The book is a translation of the original Maithili novel 'Sooryasta'by Mayanand Mishra. The story pertains to pre-independence India, around the first half of the twentieth century. A British family, an Indigo farmer originally, becomes super-rich, living in a village in the heart of Mithila, a region in the northern part of the state of Bihar in India. The daughter is very appreciative of the Indian lifestyle and culture and adopts the same for herself. She opens a school for local children. She falls in love with a local youth, who is a Gandhian involved in the Independence Movement and committed not to marry. She also decides not to marry. But the en d is very dramatic and totally unexpected.
