<b>From the acclaimed author of </b><i><b>Teatime for the Firefly</i></b><b> comes the story of a man with dreams of changing the world, who finds himself changed by love</b><br><br>1870s India. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhoodshunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penanceBiren devotes his life to effecting change. <br><br>Biren's passionate spirit blossoms as wildly as the blazing flame trees of his homeland. With a law degree, he goes to work for the government to pioneer academic equality for girls. But in a place governed by age-old conventions, progress comes at a price, and soon Biren becomes a stranger among his own countrymen. <br><br>Just when his vision for the future begins to look hopeless, he meets Maya, the independent-minded daughter of a local educator, and his soul is reignited. It is in her love that Biren finally finds his home, and in her heart that he finds the hope for a new world.