Will the power struggle between a Brahmin matriarch and her American daughter-in-law allow the man in the middle to survive?In this book, the clash of cultures complicates the idea of home when Alice marries Ramesh. His mother, Shiva, named for the Hindu god of Creation and Destruction, wages a war of wills with her across two continents, until a family secret is revealed. The revelation costs Shiva everything, and it is up to Alice to heal the rift between them, and Shiva's Arms evolves into an exploration of freedom and duty, rootlessness and belonging, cultural identity and the meaning of home.