She allows herself to kiss her perfect child just once.
Young and curious Alice , with her spun-gold hair, grows up in her family\'s sprawling compound with parents as remote as England, the cold country. 1910, India . \'You\'re better off without me, \' she whispers and although every step breaks her heart, she walks away.
She wraps the baby in her last Gift: a hand-knitted cardigan, embroidered with a water lily pattern.
She allows herself to kiss her perfect child just once