Originally published in the late 1950s, this novel — says the blurb — "is one of the few books almost every Nepali knows well." The reason is that it "struck a chord in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Nepali readers." And the reason for this occurrence is that the novel is regarded by Nepali literary scholars as a work of social realism, a reflection of actual peasant life.
The Nepali title of the book is "Basain," a word sometimes translated as "settlement" or "residence." (The English title is taken from a passage in the novel itself: "The sun's yellow rays fell on the peaks of the next range of mountains, and they looked as if some artist had painted them with turmeric.") The Nepali title does indeed stress the social-realist aspect of the book, as does the author's expressed intentions. "No sniff of a literary pen will be found in this novel; instead, it provides the readers with the smell of the ferns and bitter-leaves that grow on the hillsides and in the ravines."
Maybe so, but there is more to it than this. Some examples: A character lies down "but sleep was too afraid to approach . . ."; it gets colder and "the autumn could not bear to see the moon smiling like this, unveiled." Later, "winter strode slowly up like a blemished incarnation, determined to ruin the whole lovely garden that autumn had prepared."