[3] Set in a small Indian town in 1995 where Rajesh Deshpande, an insecure, isolated science teacher is smitten by the new English tutor, but struggles to find a way to meet her.

Mary Loudon writing in The Times states that despite never having been to India, the author "has managed with exquisite sensitivity to capture the feel and the tone of the country."

[4] James Simmons in The Spectator has no such reservations and calls the novel 'a little masterpiece', writing "Because of its familiar subject and the naiveté of the characters one might be inclined to put this book aside after the first chapter, but it is well worth persevering with because Whitaker is so genuinely inventive.

"[5] Trevor Lewis in The Sunday Times is also positive, "It is a pleasant surprise to find an English writer who deftly evokes both the peculiar flavours of modern Indian life and the rhythms of subcontinental literature as a whole.

Whitaker's novel plays off the themes of rationalism and spirituality, sculpting them into a leisurely comedy" and concludes "A generously humoured, genuinely humane account of infatuation and heartbreak".