"[An] exceptional novel...From the picturesque falls of Upstate New York to stunning sites in India, Duffy shines in elegant, flowing prose and delicate precision."--Booklist starred review on A Mosaic of Wings

In 1886 Calcutta, Ottilie Russell is adrift between two cultures, British and Indian, belonging to both and neither. In order to support her little brother, Thaddeus, and her grandmother, she relies upon the skills in beetle-wing embroidery that have been passed down to her through generations of Indian women.

When a stranger named Everett Scott appears with the news that Thaddeus is now Baron Sunderson and must travel to England to take his place as a nobleman, Ottilie is shattered by the secrets that come to light. Despite her growing friendship with Everett, friend to Ottilie's English grandmother and aunt, she refuses to give up her brother. Then tragedy strikes, and she is forced to make a decision that will take Thaddeus far from death and herself far from home.

But betrayal and loss lurk in England too, and soon Ottilie must fight to ensure Thaddeus doesn't forget who he is, as well as find a way to stitch a place for herself in a cold, foreign land.

"The relationships between the Indians and the British, and those in-between, the Eurasians, are captured precisely. The novel is written lucidly in Ottilie's third-person point of view, and we feel her mental anguish at her mistreatments by the British in India and later in England. The skillful creation of Ottilie, who looks very Indian, and Thaddeus, who appears English, adds to the novel's conflict."--Historical Novels Review