The Shadow Lines is a 1988 novel by Indian writer Amitav Ghosh. Told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator, it chronicles his childhood in Calcutta, India, all the way to his time in London as an adult. It centers on two extended families: the narrator’s family and the Price family in England. The tie between these families—one Indian, one English—traces back to the friendship forged between Lionel Tresawsen, Mrs. Price’s father, and Justice Datta Chaudhuri. The latter is the father of Meshomoshai and the father-in-law of Mayadebi, the narrator’s great aunt. The events of the novel are arranged in a non-linear fashion, as the narrator skips back and forth between the present and his memories of the past.

Born in 1952, the narrator grows up with his parents and grandmother, Tha’mma. His older cousin Tridib is the son of Meshomoshai and has chosen to stay in Calcutta while his family hops from place to place due to his father’s diplomatic work. Tridib is an important figure in the narrator’s life, and he admires his elder cousin for his worldliness. However, Tridib’s niece Ila does not see him the same way—perhaps because she has been traveling all her life, as her father works for the U.N. Because they are the same age, the narrator always looks forward to Ila’s rare visits to Calcutta.

At twelve years old, the narrator and his family are invited to spend Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival, in Raibajar, at a mansion owned by Ila’s family. There, the narrator and Ila hide from the adults in a deserted room, playing house under a large wooden table. As they play, Ila tearfully tells the story of how her doll—doubling as their “daughter,” Magda—was rescued from her bullies by Mrs. Price’s son, Nick. At the time, Ila and her family had been staying in London with the Price family. Years later, the narrator finds out from Nick’s older sister, May, that Nick had instead let Ila be bullied in school, as he was ashamed of being seen with an Indian girl.

After her retirement, Tha’mma learns that her uncle, Jethamoshai, still lives in their ancestral home in Dhaka. Although she has fond memories of growing up there, her childhood was rife with quarrels between her adult family members, culminating in a massive wooden partition that was put up to divide the house in two. Tha’mma has not been in Dhaka since the 1947 India-Pakistan partition; even still, she resolves to retrieve the aging Jethamoshai.

Tha’mma gets her opportunity when Mayadebi and her family relocate to Dhaka the following year. She flies out of Calcutta with Tridib and May, who was visiting India at Tridib’s invitation. The two had been penpals for a while, an awkward romance blossoming between them. Shortly after their departure, the narrator experiences a deeply harrowing day at school: Not only are there few students in attendance, but they are also dismissed early and escorted outside by armed policemen. On the bus home, a violent mob forces the driver to take a different route.

Around the same time, Tha’mma and the others drive to the slums of Dhaka to visit their ancestral home. However, the senile Jethamoshai refuses to leave with them. His caretaker, Khalil, suggests taking the old man in his rickshaw and following behind the car. They do not get far before a group of men attacks them. When the mob turns their attention to Khalil’s rickshaw, May exits the car in a rescue attempt. Tridib runs after May and pushes her to the ground, making his way to the rickshaw and...