Jean Rhys said that "reading makes immigrants of us all," that "it takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Now more than ever, it's vital—and heartening—to read, and read widely. We'll read thrilling, mind-blowing, intriguing, heartbreaking, comic, strange, and/or provocative books by women of color—and, bi-monthly, we'll gather to talk about what we've read! When possible, we'll also have the writer join us.
Our August book is MIRROR MADE OF RAIN by Naheed Phiroze Patel, which was released May 17, 2022 and named a most-anticipated book of 2022 by The Millions and Ms. Magazine. We encourage you to purchase a copy at your local independent bookstore. Please read the book in advance of this meeting!
Naheed will be joining us via Zoom for our discussion!
About MIRROR MADE OF RAIN
Mirror Made of Rain offers a riveting exploration of class and tradition in contemporary India, following the life of Noomi Wadia, a funny, impulsive, and sharply observant heroine for our modern times.
When we first meet her, Noomi is loathe to change her hard-partying ways simply because it’s what’s expected in Kamalpur high society. As quick-witted as she is quick-tempered, Noomi’s social obligations become increasingly fraught as she resists the pressures to marry and start a family of her own. Under constant scrutiny from her peers, and with her mother’s worsening alcoholism putting a strain on things at home, Noomi leaves for Bombay to work as a reporter.
Noomi’s independence is interrupted when she falls for Veer—a hard-working consultant from a conventionally upper middle-class background who nevertheless appreciates her for exactly who she is. Joining him in New Delhi (and his judgmental, social-climbing family), Noomi is forced to observe patriarchal and restrictive customs, as the world she rejected threatens to overtake her once again. As Veer and Noomi’s future is threatened by the realities of conventional life, Noomi realizes that her worst fears have come to pass—she is trapped in the same cycle of self-destructiveness as her mother, and she must battle her impulses or risk losing it all.
Spanning several years of Noomi’s life, Naheed Phiroze Patel’s exhilarating debut novel unravels how society determines self-image and asks if we can ever break free from expectations, when survival is often contingent on compromise.
About Naheed Phiroze Patel
Naheed Phiroze Patel is a graduate of the MFA program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts. Her writing has appeared in the New England Review, The Guardian, HuffPost, Scroll.in, BOMB Magazine, Public Books, PEN America, The Rumpus, EuropeNow Journal, Asymptote Journal and elsewhere.