India, April 16 -- Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy discovers secret about girl.

That, in a nutshell, is the premise of Sayantan Ghosh's Lonely People Meet. The novel is an earnest attempt to capture the effects of urban alienation and the lengths to which vested interests go to satisfy the need for connection.

The boy in this case is Karno, an aspiring young writer and unsuccessful marathon runner who also helps out part-time at a Delhi bookstore. And the girl is the enigmatic Devaki, with whom he starts up a relationship after an unlikely bag-snatching encounter.

They swap life stories and he is ever more drawn towards her and her mysterious ways. They deepen their relationship by regular meetings in coffee houses, parks, speakeas...