Overview

Mira is a teacher living in the heart of Suryam, a modern, bustling city in India and the only place in the world the fickle Rasagura fruit grows. Mira lives alone and with only the French existentialists as companions, until the day she witnesses a beautiful woman having a seizure in the park. Mira runs to help her but is cautious, for she could have sworn the woman looked around to see if anyone was watching right before the seizure began. Mira is quickly drawn into the lives of this mysterious woman, Sara, who suffers myriad unexplained illnesses, and her kind, intensely supportive husband, Rahil, striking up intimate, volatile, and fragile friendships with each of them that quickly become something more. Intoxicated by their attention and eager to unravel the mystery of Sara's illness, Mira wonders if Sara is unwell. Is she faking it for attention? Is it a psychological disorder? Or is Rahil making Sara sick to keep her wings clipped? A moving exploration of loss, Mukherjee delivers an intense and unexpected modern love story as Mira reconciles reality with desire.

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9781982624996

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Reviews

Rheea Mukherjee has written a thought-provoking and memorable meditation on the meaning of life. In seductive prose, The Body Myth explores the depths and boundaries of relationships, conventional and unconventional, and the meaning of intimacy in sickness and health. A fine novel. -- Soniah Kamal, award-winning author of Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan Witty, melancholic, and dramatic by turns, Rheea Mukherjee's The Body Myth is a touching love story about misfits searching for togetherness, even if that togetherness might not be healthy for all concerned...The Body Myth is a compelling tale, rich in emotional undercurrents and empathy for its unconventional characters. -- Foreword Reviews Mukherjee explores the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic love in her debut novel, which is also an intriguing exploration of narrative style. -- Booklist Mukherjee's novel encapsulates the heady breathlessness of falling in love. -- Publishers Weekly Like the Rasagura fruit Rheea Mukherjee so eloquently writes about, The Body Myth is a tender love story at its core: sweet, sour, and bursting with wisdom. An intoxicating read. -- Neel Patel, author of If You See Me, Don't Say Hi

Witty, melancholic, and dramatic by turns, Rheea Mukherjee's The Body Myth is a touching love story about misfits searching for togetherness, even if that togetherness might not be healthy for all concerned...The Body Myth is a compelling tale, rich in emotional undercurrents and empathy for its unconventional characters. -- Foreword Reviews Rheea Mukherjee has written a thought-provoking and memorable meditation on the meaning of life. In seductive prose, The Body Myth explores the depths and boundaries of relationships, conventional and unconventional, and the meaning of intimacy in sickness and health. A fine novel. -- Soniah Kamal, award-winning author of Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan Mukherjee's novel encapsulates the heady breathlessness of falling in love. -- Publishers Weekly Mukherjee explores the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic love in her debut novel, which is also an intriguing exploration of narrative style. -- Booklist Like the Rasagura fruit Rheea Mukherjee so eloquently writes about, The Body Myth is a tender love story at its core: sweet, sour, and bursting with wisdom. An intoxicating read. -- Neel Patel, author of If You See Me, Don't Say Hi

Chewy, juicy little bites...The stories [stick] to your skin, very much like the heat and humidity of an Indian summer...[Her characters] bristle with energy...Even if you haven't visited anywhere remotely close to India, you are still going to recognize these people and their weaknesses and triumphs. -- Crab Creek Review on Transit for Beginners

Rheea Mukherjee has written a thought-provoking and memorable meditation on the meaning of life. In seductive prose, The Body Myth explores the depths and boundaries of relationships, conventional and unconventional, and the meaning of intimacy in sickness and health. A fine novel. -- Soniah Kamal, award-winning author of Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan Mukherjee explores the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic love in her debut novel, which is also an intriguing exploration of narrative style. -- Booklist Mukherjee's novel encapsulates the heady breathlessness of falling in love. -- Publishers Weekly Witty, melancholic, and dramatic by turns, Rheea Mukherjee's The Body Myth is a touching love story about misfits searching for togetherness, even if that togetherness might not be healthy for all concerned...The Body Myth is a compelling tale, rich in emotional undercurrents and empathy for its unconventional characters. -- Foreword Reviews Like the Rasagura fruit Rheea Mukherjee so eloquently writes about, The Body Myth is a tender love story at its core: sweet, sour, and bursting with wisdom. An intoxicating read. -- Neel Patel, author of If You See Me, Don't Say Hi

Author Information

Rheea Mukherjee received her MFA degree from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Her fiction and nonfiction has been published in several publications including Scroll.in, Southern Humanities Review, Out of Print, QLRS, and Bengal Lights, among others. Her first book, a collection of short stories about contemporary urban life in India titled Transit for Beginners, was published in Asia in 2016. Her previous stories have been Pushcart nominees, Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Finalists, and semifinalists for the Black Lawrence Press Award. She spent her childhood in the United States and her teens in India and returned to the United States for college and her MFA, before returning to Bangalore, India. She cofounded Bangalore Writers Workshop in 2012 and co-runs Write Leela Write, a design and content laboratory in Bangalore. Soneela Nankani, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a classically trained actress, voice-over artist, and singer who has had roles in film and on television. She has worked with the award-winning Sojourn Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

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