Limits of the World

A “smart, compassionate and elegant” debut novel about an Asian-Indian immigrant family from Nairobi and the secrets they keep from each other (Lauren Groff, author of Florida).

The Chandaria family—emigrants from the Asian-Indian enclave of Nairobi—has managed to flourish in America. Premchand, the father, is a doctor who has worked doggedly to grow his practice and give his family security; his wife, Urmila, runs a business importing artisanal Kenyan crafts; and their son, Sunil, after quitting the premed track, has been accepted to a PhD program in philosophy at Harvard.

But the parents have kept a very important secret from Sunil: His cousin, Bimal, is actually his older brother. When this previously hidden history is revealed by an unforeseen accident, and the entire family is forced to return to Nairobi, Sunil confesses his own well-kept, explosive secret: His Jewish-American girlfriend, who has accompanied him to Kenya, is, in fact, already his wife.

Spanning four generations and three continents, The Limits of the World illuminates the vast mosaic of cultural divisions and ethical considerations that shape the ways in which we judge one another’s actions. A dazzling debut novel—written with rare empathy and insight—it is a powerful depiction of how we prevent ourselves, unwittingly and otherwise, from understanding the people we are closest to.