THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MIRA – and it’s absolutely wonderful!

Mira is a pain therapist and fully immersed in the Indian expatriate community in Chicago. She’s nearly thirty, still lives at home and has recently become engaged to Druv, an orthopaedic surgeon. He’s apparently the perfect guy and she’s lucky to be with him (or so she’s told). When Druv ducks out of a pre-engagement trip to New York, Mira goes on her own as she wants to see her brother, who is estranged from their parents.

In New York Mira finds a gold ring, and her social media post about finding its owner sets up the chain of events that form the rest of the novel. Through that post, she meets journalist, Krish, who has his own reasons for wanting to be in on the ring’s story. Once Mira is back in Chicago we see a bit more of her family dynamic and there are clues that something is amiss in her family, although we don’t find out what that is until much later. Her parents are closely aligned with her fiancé’s parents, and both their mothers are more invested in their engagement and wedding than are Mira and Druv.

Mira travels to India with the two mothers to purchase wedding outfits – and secretly to follow up a lead about the ring. Krish follows her, and by sharing a road-trippy adventure with some danger and drama, Mira and Krish are thrown together. Readers might note this is a closed-door romance; Mira is still with her fiancé for 90% of the novel, but there’s no cheating. Krish is mysterious, vulnerable and very attractive, and when they open themselves to each other it’s tender and heartbreaking.

Mira’s parents have their own social value over the wellbeing of their children. Mira has something devastating in her past, and it’s slowly revealed how both her parents and the community itself were involved. Queer love is explored through two same-sex relationships, one involving Mira’s brother and his partner, the other between the ring’s owners (almost lovers Vasu and Suru). Their story is initially told in letters set thirty years previously and which slot in between the present-day action.

I won’t detail any more of the plot as it’s intricate and I don’t want to spoil it. Even with the busy-ness of the visit to India and the backstory of the ring, I was never confused by the secondary characters – they are all well-drawn and play their parts very effectively. The mood is very cleverly handled, as there’s lots of joy – New York is wonderful for Mira, both with Krish and her sibling (her brother’s partner is a gem) – but there are also some difficult truths to process.

I would have liked more on-page connection between Krish and Mira, and comeuppance for Mira’s parents, who are so caught up in their social position that they reject their son and (almost) forsake their daughter.

I recommend this contemporary and multicultural tale. It’s dense and layered and celebrates the Indian diaspora, even as it illuminates some of its darker complexities. There’s Something About Mira is beautifully written and author Sonali Dev skilfully juggles all the moving parts – so clever! I adored the understated tenderness between Mira and Krish and their hard-won happily ever after.