The original Assamese novel, Xeuji Pator Kahini, of which this is the English translation, was first published in 1954. Set in pre-independence Assam , the story juxtaposes the morally oppressive life in a typical Assamese village and the life of the tea garden workers, which even if marvelously free from the moral pretensions of a small village community, is harsh and unrelenting. Nareshwar, the outsider from the village, finds "meaning" in the free fun loving ways of the "coolie" ; and the mercurial Sonia, illegitimate daughter of a white "manager" and a young "coolie" girl, is the unfailing critical eye which sees through all human deceptions. This is the story of love between Nareshwar and Sonia woven into the extraordinarily rich texture of life in a tea garden.