In a railway station one bleak December night, four strangers from different walks of life face an overnight delay. The sight of a young loving couple prompts them to reflect on and share with each other their own experiences of the vagaries of the human heart in a story cycle that is, in turn, melancholy, playful, wise, and heart-wrenching. Coming out of a great storytelling tradition, this book is a moving and imaginative look at love from one of India's most celebrated writers. Wonderfully decadent. . . . Written with consummate mastery. . . . A gem of delight. . . . Bose stokes the embers of the story alive till the last page. —Indian Express