This novel is a powerful three-generational saga of a Sri Lankan family's search for coherence and continuity in a country broken by colonial occupation and riven by ethnic wars. The character Saha looks for order in a return to traditional values; Rajan is on a quest for modernity that takes him to the mother country; and Vijay is in a fight for socialism that ends in terror. Through the travail of their lives emerges the possibility of another future. Winner of the Sagittarius Prize. Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.