'A riveting memoir - the book illuminates the truth that when we learn a language, we learn an entire culture. One of the best foreign observers of contemporary India, Rich's gaze is witty, empathetic, and intimate.' Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City 'A work that will inevitably be compared to Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love [ - ] it traces the far-flung adventures of a thoughtful, soul-searching single woman from New York - In addition to reporting on life in India, Rich interviews linguists and other experts about just what happens inside your head when you learn another language. The transformation Rich undertakes isn't just spiritual or metaphorical but neurological.' New York Times 'A natural journalist, [Rich] gracefully sprinkles reportage about neuroscience and linguistics, as well as her own poignant insights, into her narrative.' Elle 'Fortified with neuroscience and laced with humour, [this] is a crash course in emotional agility, in an understanding too deep for words.' O, The Oprah Magazine

KATHERINE RUSSELL RICH is the author of the award-winning memoir The Red Devil: To Hell with Cancer and Back. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, Salon, and O, the Oprah Magazine. She teaches writing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. http://www.katherinerussellrich.com/