Marigold is a young Indian-origin woman who works in a vintage library of classics in the city of Rome. Her seemingly ordinary life- defined by routine and the quiet companionship of books-is held together by secrets she refuses to face. Her relationship with her lover is close and consuming, yet built around a boundary he insists must not be crossed. While mourning the loss of her dog, Marigold begins therapy. Her fragile sense of healing takes a sudden turn when her mother disappears unexpectedly. The discovery of an unpublished biography hidden in the attic draws Marigold into her parents' childhood in New Delhi-and toward truths long buried in her own heart. As she investigates the celebrated yet mysterious life of her artist mother, Marigold learns the language of paintings, and of what emerges only when one dares to look long enough. As fiction and reality slowly pull apart, her search carries her toward a revelation that is both intimate and devastating.