Born in Rajasthan, India, Rita leaves her native country with her diplomat father and her famiy to spend her childhood years in charming and exotic places like Burma, Thailand, and Ghana. Her innocent, happy, and sheltered life is imbued with a deeply reflective and philosophic nature. But her childhood comes to an end, with her marriage to a fellow Indian from the diplomatic circle of Accra. Shock and horrror follow, for the union is traumatic. After living in England for a few years, the couple immigrate to Canada, where they have two children. But the outcome, ultimately, is breakup and tragedy.
Ordeal by Fire is a profoundly moving account, evocative of the tradition and romance of Rajasthan and finely portraying the life of an Indian famiy, as it leads to the story of the violence and tragedy at the end of a girl's childhood and the inner resources she gathers as a woman to be able to carry on with her life.
