The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Ghosh, Amitav. The Shadow Lines. New York: Mariner Books, 2005.

The unnamed narrator was born in Calcutta, India in the early 1950s. The novel’s story is comprised of various recollections told by the narrator, which are related to his own experiences, and to experiences relayed to him by other people. The narrative begins in 1939, more than a decade before the narrator’s birth. The narrator’s great-aunt, Mayadebi, went with her husband and their young son Tribid to London, England. Mayadebi’s husband needed to undergo a medical procedure there. The family was hosted by an English family called Price. The two families formed a long-term bond, and they occasionally corresponded even after Mayadebi and her family returned to India.

When the narrator was a child, May Price—the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Price—visited Calcutta. She spent time with Tribid and with the narrator. The narrator was fascinated by May, who was an aspiring classical musician. Years later, the narrator went to London on a research grant when he was in graduate school. He reconnected with May, who was a professional oboe player in an orchestra by that time. Also living in London was the narrator’s cousin Ila, who had lived in many places as a child, as her parents traveled often for work. Ila was shy and had had a generally lonely childhood.

Ila lived in London for a significant portion of her childhood. By coincidence, she met Nick Price, who happened to be the brother of May Price. Nick had been ambitious as a child, and he grew up to be a chartered accountant. Ila had often spoken about Nick to the narrator, but the narrator never actually met Nick until the narrator’s research trip to London. The narrator developed romantic feelings towards his cousin Ila at a fairly early age. When the narrator went to London, he spent time with Ila, Nick, and May. The narrator was saddened to observe that Ila had romantic feelings for Nick. When the narrator expressed his own feelings to Ila, Ila gently rebuffed him. The narrator accepted this rebuff, but he was still heartbroken.

When was college-aged, she attended college in London. The narrator’s grandmother, Tha’mma, despised Ila for supposedly ‘abandoning’ India in this way. Tha’mma was an often harsh and angry person. She was born in the city of Dhaka, but she relocated to Calcutta after marrying. After Dhaka became part of East Pakistan, she thought she would never return there. However, one day, she learned that her uncle Jethamoshai was still alive and living in Dhaka. She considered it her duty to visit him and possibly bring him with her to Calcutta. She went to Dhaka in 1964. Tribid and May accompanied her. The novel reveals that Tribid had romantic feelings for May, but May was unsure if she had similar feelings for Tribid.

During the trip to Dhaka, a riot erupted due to long-standing tensions between Hindus and Muslims. Tribid, tragically, was killed by a rioting mob. After that day, May worried that she was, in some way, guilty of indirectly causing Tribid’s death. Meanwhile, Tha’mma grew angrier than ever at Pakistan, and she hoped that India would eliminate Pakistan permanently.

The chronological end of the novel is in the early 1980s. The narrator visited London again. Nick and Ila were recently married and had gone on a honeymoon together. However, not long into the marriage, Ila discovered that Nick was being sexually unfaithful to her. Ila was devastated, but she felt that she could not leave or divorce Nick. She confessed all of this to the narrator and then asked him to forget all of it. During this trip to London, the narrator also visited May. May told him that she was unsure if she loved Tribid or not.