In 1974, three weeks before her 21st birthday, Charulatta Apte arrives at Miss Timmins' School for Girls in Panchgani. Shy, sheltered, and running from a scandal that disgraced her Brahmin family, Charu finds herself teaching Shakespeare to rich Indian girls in a boarding school still run like an outpost of the British Empire. In this small, foreign universe, Charu is drawn to the charismatic teacher Moira Prince, who introduces her to pot-smoking hippies, rock 'n roll, and freedoms she never knew existed.

Then one monsoon night a body is found at the bottom of a cliff, and the ordered worlds of school and town are thrown into chaos. When Charu is implicated in the murder-a case three intrepid schoolgirls take it upon themselves to solve-Charu's real education begins. A love story and a murder mystery, Miss Timmins' School for Girls is, ultimately, a coming-of-age tale set against the turbulence of the 1970s, as they played out in one small corner of India.

About the Author

Nayana Currimbhoy was raised in India where she attended an all-girls boarding school in Panchgani. She has been living in the U.S. since 1981 and writing about architecture and design since 1984. She runs a business specializing in traditional Indian stone carving, was Special Features Editor at Interiors magazine, and is a regular contributor to Interiors, Architectural Record, and Times of India. She holds a master’s degree in mass communications from Fairfield University and has published two books about design and one children’s biography of Indira Gandhi. She is on the board of directors for Ledig House Writers’ Residency. Currimbhoy lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.