The Dream Builders is the story of one summer in a fictional city in India, told from the point of view of ten different characters and bookended by Maneka, a Creative Writing professor in the United States who returns to the country after six years away. In her absence, India has changed drastically. Maneka finds herself in the beguiling, new, Americanized city of Hrishipur, nicknamed Millennium City and known for its upscale malls, headquarters of global corporations, and booming real estate developments. What she doesn't realize, however, is that in Hrishipur, nothing is as it appears.

Alongside Maneka, we also meet the immaculately groomed Ramona, her ambitious husband, their moonlighting chauffeur, a facialist at a posh spa, an entrepreneurial single mother, Maneka's aging father, his young live-in maid, an irreverent photographer, and a crippled electrician. All summer, as the temperature soars to record highs, the longings and resentments of the people of Hrishipur simmer until they come to a boil, culminating in a tragedy no one saw coming.