Mrs. Sen's difficulty in adjusting to the United States not only speaks to the Indian immigrant experience, but all experiences where people of different backgrounds (cultural, ethnic, gender, etc.) must come together and try to live harmoniously. Lahiri visited Houston, TX as part of the Brown Imprint Author Series and read from another book she wrote. This book and Lahiri's reading and subsequent interview shows Lahiri to a very careful writer; she uses language in a powerful and yet economical way where there is a great deal unsaid between the lines (a society turning a blind eye to the acculturation/assimilation experience of immigrants).