In 1974 the young and callow Englishman George Armitage goes to Madras in thehopes of returning with at least the beginning of his Ph.D. dissertation.Instead he... » 

In 1974 the young and callow Englishman George Armitage goes to Madras in thehopes of returning with at least the beginning of his Ph.D. dissertation.Instead he comes home with a bride named Viji an Indian woman he barelyknows. This seemingly unlikely pair eventually wind up in Sacramento wherethey buy a ranch house and give birth to triplets. In this new American worldof shag carpets and pudding pops Viji seeks consolation in her prayer roomwhich she visits frequently to gossip sass and seek advice from the framedportraits of her dead relatives. It is here where Viji feels most herself andwhere these deceased family members feel as real to her as shed been tothem. The relative calm of Vijis California existence is interrupted whenGeorges father shows up on their doorstep unexpected and unannounced. So whenVijis sister sends an outoftheblue invitation to visit India she preparesfor her first trip home in nearly eleven years not knowing for sure if shellever return to the States. The Prayer Room reexamines the meaning of family the people who live down the hall and the people who exist only in ourmemories. «