The novel won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for fiction in 1984.
Kavya's life
Kavya is the daughter of a financially poor farmer, Jayavarma Menon. Her mother, Cheriyamma, is a Christian lady. Her father is Murugan Menon, a harmonious family man.
During her school life Kavya meets Rajan Kaniyar, a rich boy who studies in their school. She falls in love with him. Rajan is a Muslim. Their marriage is arranged and they get married. But their marriage is unhappy. Their feud continues for years. When Kavya becomes pregnant, Rajan gets engaged to an NRI girl.
The cycle of unhappy marriages and separations continues in Kavya's life. Her family members suffer from poverty. In many instances, people make fun of their troubles. Later, Kavya's husband refuses to divorce her. She gets a job in a convent. Kavya's lover is killed in a bomb blast. Then Kavya gets into an adulterous relationship with a Muslim boy. This eventually leads to her remarriage to him. Meanwhile, Kavya and her family's circumstances improve, due to the contribution of a rich man, Sanu. Kavya's first husband's brother, Johnkundan Menon, then convinces her to break away from her second husband. However, she does not want to come back to him. At last she gets back to her first husband. Both of them start a new life. Kavya becomes a mother for the second time.
At the time of her second pregnancy, Kavya and her family suffers from the loss of their property. An honest government official, John, supports them. He requests Kavya to give birth to a girl. Kavya thinks of her dead lover's child and her son, the real Rajan, and agrees to this demand.
After the birth of her second child, Kavya has a vision. It is a vision of her dead son asking for her help. She arranges to marry Sanu. But the people in the village have a strong dislike towards him and thus they refuse to give consent to their marriage. Kavya then proposes Rajan to be the priest. He agrees and they get married on a church altar. Kavya's family agrees with this marriage, except her father, Murugan Menon. He
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