Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keya Das’s Second Act | 2022 | Sopan Deb | Buy |
Sopan Deb’s debut novel Keya Das’s Second Act (2022) follows a Bengali American family in New Jersey dealing with the death of their daughter. The family attempts to stage her unfinished play as a way to process their grief.
The novel shifts between family members, each carrying their own guilt and memories of Keya. The unfinished play becomes a way for the family to collaborate on something when they can barely speak to each other. Deb builds the story around the rehearsal process, using theater as a structure for working through loss.
Deb is also a New York Times culture reporter and the author of the memoir Missed Translations (2020). His fiction carries the same interest in family fractures and cultural identity that drives his nonfiction work. Keya Das’s Second Act was well received for its warmth and specificity about the Bengali American experience in suburban New Jersey.