Thin, glossy and traffic-stoppingly gorgeous, Darshini Majumdar is the image of teenage perfection, and cut from the same cloth as Tuhina, her indulgent mother, a whirlwind of power and polish. The two combine to form a "two-headed tigress" - a beast so fearsome it makes Prakash (meek father and husband, a doctor with too much heart) cower in submission. But when Mousumi, a naive and overweight cousin, is sent from India to live with this dysfunctional London family, her arrival sends the household into chaos.

Desperately struggling to understand English, and Englishness, Mousumi is ignored by Darshini and Tuhina but finds an ally in Prakash. Together, Mousumi and Prakash indulge their love of old-world India, blissfully turning their backs on Darshini and Tuhina's cosmopolitan ideals.

Slyly witty and emotionally resonant, Dancing with the Two-Headed Tigress is a story of people linked by blood and circumstance but divided by class and culture. Biswas has created an exuberant fish-out-of-water comedy of cultural misunderstanding.

"Biswas mixes dashes of magical realism with insights into what family life can really be like, as the actions of grandparents echo down the generations." - Marie Claire

About the Author

Tina Biswas was born in England and studied politics, philosophy, and economics at New College, Oxford University. She lives in London and is at work on her second novel. 

Published: 2006
Pages: 297
Format: Paperback