Freedom at Last

The time is the late 1940s. The place is India on the eve of independence. A history professor and his wife -- Ivar and Maren Lagerstrom -- arrive at a mission college in the southeastern town of Chinnapur. We follow Ivar and Maren as they learn to negotiate Indian society and as they endure trials of weather and disease. But graver crises are coming. Chinnapur is quickly becoming a haven for refugees. When the communist town chairman foments a riot of Koya tribesmen against the influx, a slaughter begins and throws the town into chaos. Robert Paul Roth has created a human-interest tale in which characters under duress become vehicles for significant social and political comment. Offering more than political commentary or local color, however, Freedom at Last reveals the irony of small-town life in uncertain times. Brimming with compelling characters, this novel brings readers close to ambiguities in both missionary activity and political empire.