What if home became a place of dread? Maliha Anderson returns to her family in French-owned Pondicherry, and it's as bad as she expected. Her grandmother is trying to marry her off but that's nothing compared the suicide of an unknown woman in front of a family wedding party. Or that her rejected lover has returned unexpectedly. Maliha refuses to allow the woman's death to be brushed under the carpet but her investigations bring her to a very dark place. Slavery, sexual violence and taboo relationships guide her to a devastating revelation that might destroy her family. In a past that never was, the fourth book in the Maliha Anderson series reveals the darkest aspects of human nature with vivid descriptions, intriguing characters, and crisp, elegant prose.