"Haveli" by Suzanne Fisher Staples, tells the story of Shabanu, whose husband, Rahim, is the descendant of a rich family. Set in Northern India, the story focuses on both the cruelty endured by Shabanu at the hands of Rahim's three other wives and her struggle to relive the free life she used to know as a child living in the Cholistan Desert. When she finds that Rahim will let her and her daughter reside in 'Haveli', an old home of the family far removed from the hassles of her present life, she feels almost as though all her worries have been wisked away, however, with life in the city comes the city's people, and she soon finds herself falling in love with another man.
"Haveli" is a unique story that neither compromises detail for action nor action for detail and takes care to let the reader explore even the miniscule pleasures and hassles of Indian rural life while providing an engrossing tale that will be enjoyed by anyone who has interest in other cultures.