The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Divakaruni, Chitra. One Amazing Thing. Hyperion, 2009.

Chitra Divakaruni’s One Amazing Thing is divided into sixteen unnamed chapters and is written in the past tense from the third-person point of view. The narration changes within this structure while the characters are telling their stories, giving each story a unique feel and mimicking the ambience of a real-life storytelling circle.

The novel takes place in an unnamed city in the United States, in the basement office of the Indian Consulate. Seven people are waiting obtain their visas so they can travel to India. Also present in the office is the chief visa officer and his secretary.

While the attendees wait impatiently for their appointments, an earthquake strikes, at first just a gentle rumble that the occupants believe to be construction workers. Suddenly, the building collapses on itself, trapping the nine characters within. Cameron, who is a veteran of the United States Army, and has experienced similar situations, immediately acts to protect the group. He prevents Tariq from opening the hallway door, which would have caused the building to collapse on them.

Cameron gathers the group, explains this situation, and cares for the wounded. Then the group divides their food and finds a potable water source and begins the long wait to be rescued. At first, the differences in ethnic and religious backgrounds cause in-fighting and more than once a brawl arises.

But when Uma suggests that they spend their time telling each other stories about the most important experiences of their lives, the tension eases, and the group settles in to the storytelling circle.

Each character present in the basement shares a story that has been impacted by love, by the pressures of family, the goodness of strangers, and the persistent discrimination of the world around them. Through the telling of the stories, the group realizes that the differences that separate them are minor compared to the glaring similarities that unite them. With each story told, the cultural differences of the group slowly dissolve, and they learn to accept their coming fate.

Amidst the storytelling, Cameron’s heroic character slowly degrades because his asthma inhaler is empty, and he cannot breathe. As his health fades, the other characters acquire his selfless demeanor, and each person eventually plays a hand in keeping the group safe and comforted.

While hopes remain high at the beginning of the novel, the group must learn to accept the inevitable. A broken gas line is leaking gas into the basement, water is slowly filling the space, and the ceiling continues to collapse, shedding heavy pieces of drywall and concrete. The characters’ relationship to mortality develops amidst the crumbling of the building and the telling of the stories.

With each story told, the characters find closure to all of their unanswered questions, and begin to understand that they were never alone, even when they believed there was good reason to despair. The novel ends without a clear conclusion, but implies that no one makes it out alive, and the building ultimately collapses.