This book takes place in a fictionalized ancient India. The protagonist is someone who we might call asexual today, but obviously that terminology is not used. She is forced into an arranged marriage and is very uncomfortable with sex. There are allusions to her basically being forced to have sex so her husband can produce heirs. She dissociates when this happens. In one scene, a child says that women are supposed to only show themselves to their husbands and that women who participate in public life are whores. He repeats this from an adult who said it. Throughout, there are mentions of intimate partner abuse, but the protagonist does not experience this herself.