This book was lush in detail about all aspects of Indian life, class system, and culture. The details of the foods (in all classes of society) were especially valuable in contributing to the feel of the story. The details seemed to wrap themselves in and out of the plot line which was simple in itself. The vastness of culture and class distinction, in relation to the British presence in particular, was really the story being told. My only disappointment was that, as with other Prawer Jhabvala novels, it just seems to end, rather than sum up the conflicts nicely. Probably the whole point - it just keeps going on that way, in both the novel and real life. The characters are very sharply presented and reading this book was a warm, fluid experience - very rich indeed