"Abbas is just seventeen years old when he leaves his family to serve in the court of Tipu Sultan, a volatile and unpredictable ruler. An inspired woodcarver, Abbas is apprenticed to a master toy maker in order to build a massive tiger automaton, a gift to celebrate the return of the Sultan's sons from British captivity. Working alongside the legendary French clockmaker Monsieur du Leze, Abbas hones his craft and learns to read French and then meets...

"From the highly acclaimed author of Atlas of Unknowns ("Dazzling. . . One of the most exciting debut novels since Zadie Smith's White Teeth" --San Francisco Chronicle) a bravura collection of short stories set in locales as varied as London, Sierra Leone, and the American Midwest that captures the yearning and dislocation of young men and women around the world. In "Light & Luminous," a gifted instructor of Indian dance falls victim to the vanity...