The Sino-Indian war has ended. The Chinese community in Calcutta (Kolkata), feeling threatened and facing discrimination, begins to look for ways to emigrate. By the seventies they are flocking to Canada legally or otherwise. Wen-Lung, a young man in his twenties, goes away on a tourist visa to Toronto where he marries Megan, a white Canadian woman, in order to obtain his legal papers. He leaves behind his pregnant wife, Maylei and a two-year old son. When Maylei arrives in Toronto a few years later, the union is far from ideal because Wen-Lung is still attached to Megan. To complicate matters further, Maylei meets her former lover Keith, an Anglo-Indian. When Maylei returns to India to see her aging parents, she finds herself caught in the midst of a race riot.

A touching story of modern exile and immigration, of the pain of leaving and the joy of freedom, set in Tangra, the leather district of Calcutta, and in Toronto’s neighbourhoods.

Praise for Picture Bride:

“Even when description is sparse, the minimalist writing still paints a vivid picture. The emotional heft of Jillian’s confusion, her adjustments, her courage and fear is borne out fantastically. The way our protagonist’s immigration experience is framed, from Peter threatening her with her immigration status to the journey back home for the first time, is grounded from a reality. Also though I’m familiar with Chinese Indians, I really enjoy how bits and pieces of Hakka culture is given here.”
–Galactic Tides, blog