Kiran Desai's first novel, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, was published to unanimous acclaim in over twenty-two countries. Now Desai takes us to the northeastern Himalayas where a rising insurgency challenges the old way of life. In a crumbling, isolated house at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga lives an embittered old judge who wants to retire in peace when his orphaned granddaughter Sai arrives on his doorstep. The judge's chatty cook watches over her, but his thoughts are mostly with his son, Biju, hopscotching from one New York restaurant job to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS, forced to consider his country's place in the world. When a Nepalese insurgency in the mountains threatens Sai's new-sprung romance with her handsome Nepali tutor and causes their lives to descend into chaos, they, too, are forced to confront their colliding interests. The nation fights itself. The cook witnesses the hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge must revisit his past, his own role in this grasping world of conflicting desires-every moment holding out the possibility for hope or betrayal. A novel of depth and emotion, Desai's second, long-awaited novel fulfills the grand promise established by her first.

设立于1969年的布克奖是英国最负盛誉的文学奖。2006年布克奖的获奖者是35岁的印度女作家蒂赛，获奖作品是《失落的传承》。蒂赛也是布克奖历史上最年轻的获奖者。评选委员会给这部得奖作品的评语是：展现人性的宽宏大度与梦想；幽默、温馨，并显示超强的政治洞察力。

在上世纪80年代中期的印度，尼泊尔独立运动达到了高潮。在喜马拉雅山脚的噶伦堡镇，住着一位毕业于剑桥的退休印度法官、他的孙女赛和他的厨师。法官退居于此，想忘记自己人生的失意，安度晚年。他的孙女赛父母双亡，爱上了她的尼泊尔老师吉安。法官年轻时得以去英国念书，但他的肤色、语言和宗教都使得他在英国是一个外来人，他开始怀疑自己的身份。革命爆发的时候，赛的爷爷成了革命的对象，她的恋人、出身贫寒的吉安卷入了尼泊尔的动乱之中，跟赛形同陌路。与此同时，法官的厨子把希望寄托在他儿子身上，让他偷渡纽约成为非法移民，结果美梦破灭，他儿子在纽约的生活无比悲惨。所有人都在跟自己的地位和现代化的力量作斗争，同时又维持着他们之间的情感纽带。

德赛视野广阔，描写了强大的文化和政治力量对群体和个人的影响。文笔风趣中带着苦涩，但总体上仍是乐观的。她也从不说教，哪怕是在表现文明的益处和缺陷。