Maliha Anderson returns to her family in French-owned Pondicherry, and it's worse than she expects. Her grandmother is trying to marry her off but that's nothing compared the suicide of an unknown woman in front of a family wedding party.

Or that her rejected lover has returned unexpectedly.

Maliha refuses to allow the woman's death to be brushed under the carpet but her investigations bring her to a very dark place. Slavery, sexual violence and taboo relationships guide her to a devastating revelation that might destroy her family.