This brilliant, superbly imaginative but terribly disturbing novel transcends borders, cultures, reading habits and literary fashions. As a story of the inhumanity of any human search for absolute perfection, it probably has no parallel in our literature. As a fable, it has a moral that will return to haunt you, Ashis Nandy. A searing exploration of the universal pathologies of power, purity and dogma, of men and their fantasies, The Valley of Masks is a remarkably original novel, masterful and universal. A must read for generations to come.