These, Our Bodies, Possessed by Light

Dharini Bhaskar

'Maybe all of us are no more than Venn diagrams – our personal biographies and those of our relations colliding to create the teardrop of our selves.'

Until now, Deeya has found an unquiet contentment in the memories of her affair with an older man in a spare but tolerable marriage. Then, Neil comes into her life, offering a heady romance and a new identity. Will Deeya give their fledgling relationship a chance?

Perhaps the seeds of her answer have already been sown by her family – by her grandmother and mother, both of whom have been compelled to make complex negotiations with love.

As Deeya confronts their stories, she must decide: Will she upend her family's history and build a narrative of her own? Or is she – as are all of us – destined to carry forward the concessions and mutinies of our ancestors?

Refreshing in its vision and assured in its craft, These, Our Bodies, Possessed by Light is a remarkable debut about (un)sanctioned memory, uncommon love, and the claims of familial history.