DEAR READER

DEAR READER

I've always wanted to write a romance about letters. Maybe it was because I loved the old Bollywood movies where the hero and heroine stood in an archway and a sari fluttered in the wind while their eyes connected and their only method of communication was covertly written messages. Or maybe it was because I also loved Pride and Prejudice and the infamous Darcy letter.

Needless to say, letters have always been fascinating to me. But it wasn't until I was going through my grandmother's paperwork to close out her estate for my family that I realized how powerful letters could be. In the old cardboard boxes filled with a mishmash of medical bills and old naturalization paperwork, I found my grandmother's letters. She kept every single one she received. The most powerful letters were from her mother, whom she could never see again after she left India and moved to the United States.

It took me weeks to figure out what the letters said. They were all in Punjabi and Hindi, languages I can speak to some level of proficiency, but not read. But thanks to Google Translate, in the faded-blue pages still stamped with dates from the 1970s, I found hope and fear, happiness and sadness, and the truth about what my grandmother sacrificed to find opportunity in a foreign country. That was the genesis of this novel. And because my grandmother wrestled with her expectations versus her wants and needs, that's what I wanted to write about.

I work really hard to stay away from South Asian stereotypes about the Desi diaspora, or at the very least, I try to give meaning and nuance to age-old assumptions about South Asians. This book may feel like there are more stereotypes than most: hero who wants to write books instead of getting a job in tech, heroine who comes from a different socioeconomic class and does what her parents always wanted her to do.

Star-crossed lovers versus suitable arranged matches.

Whether you're Desi or not, it may sound familiar.

Here's the thing about stereotypes: Sometimes there is truth in them. And sometimes, that truth exists in privileged classes and communities the most because they are the ones resistant to change that may impact their same privilege. With Ravi and Jessie, you'll find that resistance, and you'll also see how both of them are very aware of their circumstances and the realities they can't escape.

But here's the good news! Because I write romances, and this book is indeed a romance novel, there is always a way out. There is always a path to happily ever after. There is always the slow unpacking of intergenerational trauma, addressing privilege and class, and the importance of standing up against cultural expectations.

And last but not least, there is always more to the story.

I hope you enjoy my first new-adult romance, friends. Ravi and Jessie are special to me, and I know they'll become just as special to you, too.

Trigger Warning in The Letters WeKeep:

Vaping, which happens throughout the book