In the Year of the Monkey in the heart of the tropics on the morning of a perpetual, centuries-old summer, God thickened the river with mud to slow the advance of time. Up the slope from his labors and unnoticed even by God, a nimble girl of seven hoisted herself through the branches of the tallest tree in the yard of the Madrigal plantation... ...and so begins the story based on the life of Catherine D'Cruz, born mid-century on the...