<p>Spanning over a century, The Lady on the Horse tells the story of five generations of</p><p>a family in Calcutta. Starting life as a khansama in an Englishman's house in 1900,</p><p>Dipendra Nath Lahiri dreams of acquiring the wealth and status of a zamindar.</p><p>His wife Pritilata's skills as a seamstress-much sought after by the memsahibs-</p><p>become the means, and by 1919, their tailoring business, Lahiri ' Sons, has made</p><p>them fabulously rich and they've bought a grand mansion, Lahiri Bari. Their</p><p>progeny can live a life of leisure, at par with the white sahibs Dipendra Nath and</p><p>Pritilata had once served.</p><p>But with time, Lahiri Bari also becomes the house of many secrets and contested</p><p>legacies: of injustice, betrayal, love and pain. What was the unmentionable 'thing'</p><p>that happened between Neelratan Lahiri's wife Ishwari and the black-as-a-crow</p><p>Kanailal-the revolutionary who wanted to burn down the Raj? Two generations</p><p>later, what is the mysterious connection between Pixie and the maid's daughter,</p><p>Ayesha, who grow up like sisters? And what was the oldest secret of them all-</p><p>what turned the demure Pritilata into a rebel who rode out of her mansion on a</p><p>magnificent horse one day-never to return.</p><p>Set against the backdrop of the freedom struggle, the Bengal Famine and</p><p>Partition, this sprawling family saga explores the insidious implications of class</p><p>and caste through the lives of people thrown together by blood ties and fate lines.</p><p>At the heart of the story is the idea that everything which happens in the present</p><p>has its roots in the past-every generation will be shaped by the legacy it has</p><p>been bequeathed.</p><p>With a rich cast of characters and lyrical prose, Ramona Sen takes us on an</p><p>exhilarating roller-coaster ride through the trials and tribulations of one family-</p><p>and the passionate loves and bitter enmities that shaped their fortunes.</p>