The two most existential parts of being an immigrant are nostalgia and adaptability. It’s no surprise that these themes show up at the
heart of every book I write. Adaptability is the more obvious piece, because a character adapting to a new reality is the essence of every story. As for nostalgia, a huge part of mine is tied to celebration. Festivals and holidays, family gatherings, trips with college friends, food, fabric, books and movies as connections.
In my childhood neighborhood, on every Diwali, the Indian holiday that celebrates light as a metaphor for the victory of good over evil, a stage would be constructed in the commons, and all the neighborhood children got to dance and sing and perform plays for five nights. This is where, at the age of eight, I wrote my first ‘professional’ play. When my first book came out, I dreamed of a stage like that in American publishing, where everyone got to come out and tell their stories and show their hearts. So, it is a great delight to share my festivities with you with a list of books that do exactly that.
Leave and Come Back by Lavanya Lakshmi
What’s more celebratory than a wedding? A girl estranged from her family returns home for her cousin’s wedding, the event of the season. But when her brand new — and not-Indian — boyfriend accidentally crashes the engagement party, she concocts a scheme inspired by her favorite Bollywood movie, DDLJ: she and her boyfriend will pretend to be strangers while he wins over her family. Equal parts hijinks and deep emotion, this rom-com puts you right in the middle of a multi-event, 400-attendee extravaganza you will not soon forget.
The Truth About Isha by Namrata Patel
A lonely and introverted woman, who finds solace in her daydreams, sometimes lets the lines between escape and reality blur. In an attempt to ‘fix’ herself, she goes hiking with a group of strangers and ends up witnessing another young woman fall to her death. When the dead woman starts to haunt her thoughts, she’s forced to work with the woman’s brother to unravel a family mystery she left unsolved. Her own grief and fearing for her sanity stand in her way, but fighting for the joy and healing that seem painfully within reach form the moving and deeply real soul of the story.
Caste in the Stars by Leylah Attar
A young entrepreneur returns to her parents’ home (which also happens to be a funeral home) after a divorce that stole her business and her life. Just as she’s reconciling with all the love and expectations she left behind, she’s stuck with playing host to her high school crush. He’s now a huge film star and needs to move into her parents’ funeral home for movie research. This sweet and sexy romance is filled to bursting with the beauty of human connection, the courage of reaching for dreams, and the pure healing power of family.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
I can’t start with nostalgia and not talk about this book. The two protagonists immigrate to the USA in the 90s, almost exactly when I did. Their journeys of finding their identities, then struggling to hold on to them as they assimilate, run parallel for most of the book, but they form some of the most incisive commentary on growing up Anglicized and privileged in India and then trying to make a home in America. The cast of characters is large and stunningly well drawn, and the love story that emerges is meandering but deeply soulful and satisfying. It’s one of those books that makes you feel like you’re staring into a mirror that sees everything.
Just a Highland Fling by Naina Kumar
This one also starts out at a wedding… in Scotland, where an angry daughter causes her father’s bride to run off and leave him at the altar. She then has to help him go in search of his runaway bride on a road trip across the Scottish Highlands. Forced to join them on their journey is a hot Indian bagpiper; she had a one-night stand just before the wedding. This forced proximity contemporary romance explores the Indian diaspora experience from an entirely unique lens and delves into the sometimes complicated relationships between fathers and daughters with delightful candor and warmth.
