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The Hungry Tide is the sixth novel by the highly acclaimed Indian-born author Amitav Ghosh. It is a contemporary story of love, identity and adventure set in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans in West Bengal. Summary of the Book The Hungry Tide is set in the vast and exotic Sundarbans – an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal where the inhabitants live in the fear of man-eating Royal Bengal Tigers and drowning tides. The story follows the headstrong Indian-born American marine biologist, Piyali Roy, who arrives in Sudarbans to research on a rare species of river dolphins. Her journey proves to be major disaster right from the beginning when she is thrown from a boat into the crocodile-infested water and is rescued by Fokir, a young and illiterate fisherman. Despite their completely different ways of life, Fokir and Piyali are powerfully drawn to each other. She manages to involve Fokir in her research with the help of a translator – Kanai Dutt, who is an entrepreneur, settled in Delhi. As the three characters come together with their individual set of ideologies and launch into the backwaters of Bay of Bengal, their paths cross and it is through their interwoven lives that the author explores the various elements of this theme. About Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh is a Bengali Indian author. Ghosh was born in Calcutta and completed his education from The Doon School, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi School of Economics and Oxford University. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian Government in 2007. He has penned down books like The Circle of Reason, The Glass Palace, The Calcutta Chromosome and River of Smoke. He is currently based out of New York where he resides with his wife, Deborah Baker.