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Java, 1895. A foster child, Louisa was married off at thirteen. She longs to know who her biological mother is, but those around her claim that her ancestry does not matter. Most likely, her mother was a njai, the concubine of a Dutchman, someone it is best to silence to death. Louisa is lucky; as a recognized Indo-European, she belongs to the colonial upper crust of the Dutch East Indies. When she looks in the mirror, however, she sees something quite different. By reading a lot, Louisa tries to escape her housewife existence in Buitenzorg. Her friendship with a neighbor of Chinese descent and his Javanese secretary - two outsiders whom the European community looks down on - gives her the wings of the kinnari, the mythical goddess of love. At last she dares to make her own choices. Yet fate decides otherwise, and Louisa finds herself as the caretaker of her sick husband and her foster mother. Even though they call her an angel, she has lost her wings. She searches for her mother after all to discover who she herself really is: a Western angel or an Eastern kinnari.(Paperback)