India

The overarching setting of the novel is modern India, depicted as a place of stark contrasts and deep divisions. Rapid modernization and wealth sit uneasily alongside persistent poverty and systemic injustice. Rising religious tensions, especially anti-Muslim sentiment, form a powerful backdrop, shaping the characters' lives and choices. The novel presents a society where institutions are often corrupt or ineffective, leaving individuals to navigate survival, morality, and justice in a fractured and hostile environment. Through its characters and locations, the novel captures both the beauty and brutality of contemporary India.

Teetarpur

Teetarpur, the fictional rural village at the heart of the novel, is a close-knit but deeply troubled community. Munia’s brutal murder shatters the village’s fragile social fabric, exposing underlying tensions, prejudices, and corruption. Although on the surface Teetarpur appears quiet and traditional, the novel reveals it as a place where justice is often distorted by power...