Sarah Thankam Mathews

Three quarters misery, with a reversal of fortune in the end, and the gap between is too painful to make for an enjoyable read. After graduation, Sneha moves to Milwaukee for a seemingly well-paying and secure consulting job and is even able to bring in her dudebro Thom (who, hilariously, treats Sneha just like she's him), and she falls in love with a complicated woman. When everything goes sour, her devoted friends try and pull her through, but Sneha folds and allows her miserable landlord and cheating boss to shatter her life. Oh, and yeah, she's remains closeted to her unknowing family back in India. The plunge to the bottom includes some rough and exploitative sexual encounters, and her strongest advocate is a woman she isn't attracted to but who becomes her lifesaver to sanity. In the altogether, Sneha's fall is too long-lasting and her rise is given short shrift.… (mere)

A twenty three year old lesbian immigrant woman struggles to succeed both financially and romantically in Milwaukee Wisconsin. She has friendships with many varied people including an employer who doesn't always pay her.. She finally finds Marianna who seems to be the woman of her dreams but things are always a struggle. She has a checkered family past and was abused by an uncle. All this leads to periods of aimlessness and lack of confidence. Mathews is a wonderful young writer and this is a marvelous first novel.… (mere)