Set in suburban Toronto, New Jersey, Texas, and India, these finely wrought stories depict the lives and relationships of immigrants. Drawing out the conflicts that occur within three generations of Indians caught between the old and the new, the stories reveal to us both the anguish of loss and the thrill of discovery. Viswanathan's quiet prose imparts powerful emotions that ring true, and her rendering of cultural clash is skillful and nuanced. The depiction of her characters' interior lives is so full and vital that they breathe and walk off the page. The reader is pulled in completely into her world of transitions. Viswanathan's quiet prose imparts powerful emotions that ring true, and her rendering of cultural clash is truly skilful and nuanced. The depiction of her characters' interior lives is so full and vital that they breathe and walk off the page. The reader is drawn in and completely absorbed into her world of transitions.

For one young boy, it’s a perfect summer day to spend at the beach with his family. He scours the high tide line for treasures, listens to the swizzling sound of barnacles, and practices walking the plank. But mostly he waits for high tide. Then he’ll be able to swim and dive off the log raft his family is building. While he waits, sea birds and other creatures mirror the family’s behaviors: building and hunting, wading and eating. At long last the tide arrives, and human and animal alike savor the water. Another beautiful ode to life lived in harmony with nature, and by the labor of one’s own hands, from an artist of great warmth and clarity.