Sonali Dev
Born1972
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
GenreRomance fiction
Years active2014–present
Website
www.sonalidev.com

Sonali Dev is an Indian American writer of contemporary romance novels.

Life

Dev was born in around 1972. She spent the beginning of her life on the west coast of India in the city of Mumbai. She moved to the United States around 2006 after marrying her husband, Manoj Thatte, and she has expressed great satisfaction with this arranged union.[1][2]

Career

While in Mumbai, Dev wrote some Bollywood scripts but these did not progress from the development phase. She began writing romance genre novels in 2010, inspired after reading the work of Catherine Coulter and realising the genre's similarity to Bollywood movie themes.[1] Dev experienced racial discrimination from multiple publishing companies because the protagonists in her novels are of Indian descent, and she is writing these diverse characters in the romance genre.[3][4]

A Bollywood Affair, Dev's first novel, was published in 2014 by Kensington Publishing Company and was shortlisted for the RITA Award by the Romance Writers of America.[3][1]

In 2018, Dev provided the Librarian's Day keynote speech at the annual Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference.[5][6]

As of 2019, Dev resided in Naperville, Illinois,[1] and has participated in multiple local events put on by the town.[7][1]

Themes

Dev commonly blends American and Indian cultures in her works, often with an emphasis on the popular Bollywood style.[8] Her characters come from a variety of backgrounds and fall all along the spectrum of wealth.[9][10] Some of her characters experience discrimination due to their race, gender, and culture.[9]

In Dev's first published novel, she addresses the issue of child marriage.[11][2] Dev has been clear that in her opinion, that there is a difference between child marriages and arranged marriages.[2]

Characters within Dev's novels often deal with the pressures of family and tradition, as well as how society can react to people with mental illness and fame.[12]

Her novel, Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, is a mash up of Dev's normal Bollywood themes and Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice.[13][9]

Selected works

Title Series Publication Year ISBN/ASIN
Scribbling Women and the Real-Life Romance Heroes Who Love Them 2014 B00HPQN55O
A Bollywood Affair Bollywood #1 2014 9781617730139
The Bollywood Bride Bollywood #2 2015 9781617730153
A Change of Heart Bollywood #3 2016 9781496705747
A Distant Heart Bollywood #4 2017 9781496705761
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors The Rajes #1 2019 9780062839053
Once Upon a Wedding Morning Glory #4.5 2019 9781944048099
Recipe for Persuasion The Rajes #2 2020 9780062839077

Awards

A Bollywood Affair - 2015 The Reading List (Reference and User Services Association)[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Levitt, Aimee (September 22, 2016). "Sonali Dev's Bollywood happily ever afters". Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Shima, Nisha (May 30, 2019). "Nisha Sharma & Sonali Dev On Writing Arranged Marriages In Romance Novels With Respect & Honesty". Bustle. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  3. 1 2 O'Brien, Kelley (February 20, 2019). "Here's Why We Need More Inclusivity In Romance Novels". Women.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  4. ↑ Rosman, Katherine (October 10, 2017). "In Love With Romance Novels, but Not Their Lack of Diversity". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ "RWA Librarian's Day Keynote Speech by Sonali Dev". RA for All. July 27, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  6. ↑ Romance Writers of America. "RWA 2018 Librarians Day Keynote from Sonali Dev". SoundCloud. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  7. ↑ Mullins, Michelle (September 19, 2019). "This Week in Naperville". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ Hartz, Taylor (October 29, 2019). "Naperville library event Saturday lets would-be writers talk to and learn from local published authors". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Nesa, Kamrun (May 11, 2019). "'Pride, Prejudice, And Other Flavors' Is More Than Just Reheated Austen". NPR. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  10. ↑ Altar, Alexandra (July 7, 2018). "The Changing Face of Romance Novels". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ Nesa, Kamrun (March 11, 2019). "Misconceptions about arranged marriage abound. Romance authors are here to help". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  12. ↑ MacLean, Sarah (November 20, 2015). "Love Blooms in Many Forms". The Washington Post.
  13. ↑ Ramsdell, Kristin (April 1, 2019). "Romance". Library Journal. 144 (3): 69–70 – via Academic Search Ultimate.
  14. ↑ Speace, Gillian (2015). "The Reading List 2015". Reference & User Services Quarterly. 54 (4): 63–65. doi:10.5860/rusq.54n4.63 – via Academic Search Ultimate.
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