About the Book: An Indian teacher and a Japanese woman begin as pen-friends, fall in love through letters, exchange vows and live as husband and wife—without ever meeting. In this collection of twelve tales by Kunal Basu, the unexpected unfolds: from an American professor trekking India to commit suicide, to a honeymooning couple caught in the Tiananmen Square unrest, to a Russian prostitute discovering her roots among Kolkata revolutionaries. These stories evoke lives forged at culture’s crossroads