On 6 July 1857, as most of colonial Calcutta prepares itself for the first gas lights to illuminate Chowringhee, Rajaram Deb remains in the solitude of his room. He is awaiting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, trusted associates of a man whose face remains obscured by shadows, and his partner, an adjutant stork. The two men have been tasked with escorting Rajaram to a transcendental celebration set to begin at dawn. To be a part of this ethereal congregation, he has agreed to sever all worldly ties and forsake the human form; he has even left behind his wealth to an unlikely feline heiress. As this momentous day unfolds, even more surreal elements manifest themselves: dreams of blood-red water, noble families dabbling in rum, piles of dusty unsent letters, tattered dictionaries, and a single English word that Rajaram finds inexplicably alluring.

A masterpiece of astonishing inventiveness, Carnival takes in its sweep the interconnectedness of time, the melding of times past and present, the myriad mysteries of an ancient city, and one man’s pursuit of immeasurable ecstasy.