In an old house with 'too many windows and women, ' high in the Indian hills, young Hannah lives with her older sister Gloria; her two older brothers; her mother, 'the Magician;' a colourful assortment of aunts, blow-ins, and misfits; and her father, 'the Historian.' It is a world of secrets, jealousies, and lies, ruled by the Historian but smoothed over by the Magician, whose kindnesses and wisdom bring homely comfort and all-enveloping love to a ramshackle building that seems destined for chaos. And then one day the Magician is gone, Gloria is gone, and the Historian has spirited Hannah and...