This book tells the story of Inder Kaur, an Indian woman growing up in the early 20th century. Girls were expected to eat last after the men and boys, and were often given only a few years of schooling. It is a story of women that is still repeated. With a Year 8 education, Inder Kaur, the author's mother, turned the Partition of India into a personal victory. Having to seek employment in Delhi, she educated herself one step at a time, as her marriage disintegrated, to become the founding principal of three women's colleges.