HerStory July 2022: Sonali Dev

We are honoring our second (but not last) romance author of the year for our July HerStory recipient: Sonali Dev. First things first, if you have a spare 30 minutes, listen to her keynote address at the 2018 Romance Writers of America Librarian’s Day to see exactly why we chose her (https://soundcloud.com/user-620052388/rwa-2018-librarians-day-keynote-from-sonali-dev?utm_source=sonalidev.com&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fuser-620052388%252Frwa-2018-librarians-day-keynote-from-sonali-dev). It’s a beautiful speech, inspiring and kind of devastating; we were destroyed by it in the best possible way. She spoke eloquently about the importance of reading and telling stories about folks that are not cis white men, and how important representation is for all groups of people. How important not only telling diverse stories is, but how important READING and OFFERING diverse stories is. That’s the underlying theme here at Knitted Wit HerStory Central: making sure our monthly HerStory recipients are representative of those who historically have not garnered the same praise, attention, and space that their white counterparts have enjoyed as a matter of course.

Not only is Sonali Dev a staunch advocate for diversifying our libraries and bookshelves, but her books are compelling and beautiful and sweet and emotional. The family dramas at the heart of them are complicated and messy and wonderful. The love stories are, well, complicated and messy and wonderful. Growing up in Mumbai, she loved Bollywood from a young age, and even tried her hand at writing Bollywood screenplays. She began her foray into writing romance when she realized that good romance was like good Bollywood: the idea that love can inspire the deepest and best kind of joy and inspire people to, as Dev said, “throw out their arms and sing.”

Dev has two book series currently, both centered around Indian families and both dealing with heavy themes and issues of place and personhood and identity and the intertwining of cultures and how that affects a person’s life trajectory. Her Jane Austin-inspired series follows an Indian-American family that is as rich and complex as any family in literature. The politics of family (and, coincidentally, politics) plague, inspire, and challenge the protagonists, and through the series, the reader gets to know and love each one. Our July colorway is inspired by the title of the 3rd book in the series, Incense and Sensibility. We hope you spend part of your summer getting to know Sonali Dev and her remarkable books.