Thanks so much for chatting with us today! Can you tell us a bit about your new novel,
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors?
Thanks so much for having me! Pride, Prejudice, and
Other Flavors is a gender swapped reimagining of the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice,
where she’s the Mr. Darcy and he’s the Lizzie Bennet.
It launches a new series about the Rajes, an Indian
American family descended from royalty (think the Indian Kennedys) who have built their lives
in San Francisco. It's the story of two strangers from completely different worlds that explores
cultural assimilation, identity, and the meaning of the word home.
Dr. Trisha Raje is an accomplished brain surgeon, working on the forefront of cutting edge
medicine in her field, and yet, her family’s perception of her is still her biggest weakness. How
did Trisha’s need for her family’s acceptance change throughout the novel?
I believe that for all of us, our need to be accepted by
those who make up our world follows our journey of self acceptance. How much you care
about what those around you think of you is directly proportional to how much you accept
yourself for who you are. The first step in that journey is digging into who you are. I think
Trisha’s is on that journey. Like anyone from a close-knit family, at the start of the story, Trisha
sees herself through the lens of her family’s opinion, and that combined with her own guilt
about mistakes she’s made make her feel like a misfit. By the end, she strengthens her bonds
with her family, because she comes to learn things about herself and rights wrongs, while also
taking ownership of what is good about being her. She finds the courage to question her
beliefs about herself and her actions and consequently is able to fight for her place in the
family.
I loved how creative and delicious the meals DJ comes up with are in this book! I could
practically taste them. What kind of research did you do into a chef’s process creating new
recipes, and do you have a favorite recipe to share?
I love to cook and for decades now, I’ve spent copious
amounts of time watching Food Network, which I now like to pretend was me working hard all
along. In all seriousness though, my entire life has been research for writing a chef. My
favorite part of writing DJ’s food-whispering was how he uses it to navigate the world and his
own need to love and nurture in the face of a harsh and judgmental world. As for a favorite
recipe, there is one in the book and I also include recipes in my newsletter. Here's my simplest
one: put a tablespoon of honey in half a cup of mascarpone and whip for a creamy dip for fruit
or a topping on baked goodies.
Your book is obviously inspired by Pride and Prejudice - are you
an Austen fan? Do you have a favorite novel of hers? Why do you think Austen’s novels have
endured for so long?
Of course I’m a fan. I dreamed of doing an Indian
adaptation of Pride and Prejudice
back in middle school, way before I even knew that there
was such a thing as an adaptation or a retelling. I think Austen’s genius lies in the fact that
she wrote from a place of complete honesty when it came to her belief that women deserve to
get what they desire. Society has always set out to convince women of their shortcomings.
Women internalized that (it is still hard not to), and the ones who didn’t couldn’t always gather
the courage to publicly claim it. Jane Austen did that through her heroines, claimed a
woman's right to getting what she wanted, which in my opinion lends timelessness to her
work.
Pride and Prejudice is probably my favorite of her books, but really it depends on the phase of the moon
when you ask me. I love the drama of Pride and
Prejudice, the romanticism of Persuasion, the angst
of Sense and Sensibility, and the comedic mixups of Emma. But what really pulls me to her
writing is the sharp social commentary. Austen effortlessly dressed her themes in character
and story, but what she’s exploring is the power imbalances in society and the courage it takes
to value yourself enough to shatter ranks in the face of those imbalances in order to get what
you desire.
Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy (and now Trisha and DJ!) are such an iconic
couple! Do you have a favorite romantic pairing? Books, movies, etc., are all fair game!
I’m going to go with Shrek and Fiona. Fun, invested in
each other's happiness, and totally badass.
I love asking authors what books they’ve read recently. Care to share a few books that
you’ve enjoyed lately?
I loved Meg Donohue’s You, Me,
and the Sea, a retelling of Wuthering Heights
that was just so beautiful it totally engulfed me.
I am also reading and loving Kennedy Ryan’s
Long Shot
, Nisha Sharma’s
My So Called Bollywood Life, and Falguni
Kothari’s The Object Of Your Affections.
What’s coming next for you?
I’m working on the next book in the Raje series: a two
generational reimagining of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set on a fictional Food
Network show called Cooking With The Stars (yes, more food!). Think, Dancing With The Stars
but with a star paired up with a chef instead of a pro dancer. The chef heroine is on the show
to save her failing restaurant and prove herself to her super successful mother. And the
celebrity she gets stuck with is the legendary soccer star her family persuaded her into
dumping years ago when they believed him to be a nobody.
I’m also finishing up a novella set in this series that’s a
romp about a bride who runs away the night before her wedding. The groom finds her and has
that one night to convince her that they’re meant to be together as they traipse around San
Francisco in search of the connection they’ve lost. It’s all very Before Sunrise-ish and it’s
going to be part of an anthology called Once
Upon A Wedding with ten other second chance
romances set at weddings. That comes out on June 11th.
Rapid Fire Random Questions
Favorite animal: Giraffe
Coffee or tea: Tea, always.
Favorite book to re-read: Vikram Seth’s
A Suitable
Boy
Beach or mountains: A beach nestled in
mountains?
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?: A writer. For real.
Dream vacation: Every vacation is a dream. It’s
time to explore the world and restore yourself, what can be better than that?
Aside from reading and writing, what are your hobbies?: Playing poker, cooking, ‘painting’ henna, dancing.
Five people you’d invite to your book club (dead or alive): Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Zoya Akhtar, Mindy Kaling, Trevor
Noah
Favorite movie: I'll go with my favorite movie this
year: Gully Boy (It’s on Amazon Prime. Watch. It.)
You have a totally free afternoon - no deadlines, no obligations, no Twitter notifications!
What do you do?: Go out to lunch with my husband
and kids. If they aren’t around, get under the sheets and binge Chopped on Food Network.
Award-winning author Sonali Dev launches a new series about the Rajes, an immigrant
Indian family descended from royalty, who have built their lives in San Francisco...It is a truth universally acknowledged that only in an overachieving Indian American family can
a genius daughter be considered a black sheep.
Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the
Rajes, her influential immigrant family who’s achieved power by making its own non-negotiable
rules:
· Never trust an outsider
· Never do anything to jeopardize your brother’s
political aspirations
· And never, ever, defy your family
Trisha is guilty of breaking all three rules. But now she has a chance to redeem herself. So
long as she doesn’t repeat old mistakes.
Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by
his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes
offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha’s arrogance. And then he discovers
that she’s the only surgeon who can save his sister’s life.
As the two clash, their assumptions crumble like the spun sugar on one of DJ’s stunning
desserts. But before a future can be savored there’s a past to be reckoned with...
A family trying to build home in a new land.
A man who has never felt at home anywhere.
And a choice to be made between the two.
Multicultural Indian | Romance Contemporary [William Morrow
Paperbacks, On Sale: May 7, 2019, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780062839053 / eISBN:
9780062839060]
A delicious
deconstructed Pride and Prejudice for Austen Fans of all ages!
An engaging
Austen-inspired story to be savored and enjoyed!
Sonali Dev's first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her
neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early
success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and written
communication, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines
and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full
force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that
make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler.
Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband and two
teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world's most perfect dog.
***
Fresh Fiction Editorial Manager
Danielle
Dresser is an avid reader, lackluster-yet-mighty
crafter, and accomplished TV binge-watcher. Once upon a time, she was a publisher publicist
and continues to cultivate her love of books and reading by chatting with the best authors in
the business. She lives in Chicagoland with her very own romance hero husband, darling
daughter, and two tempestuous cats. Follow her on
Twitter
and
Instagram, @dj_dresser.
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