June, which happens to be the LGBT pride month, has proven the strength and resilience of the community. After the June 12 attack at a gay nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando, which resulted in the death of 50 people including the gunman, people across the world rose in support for equality and justice — and for good reason.
At a time like this, reading “Nights Like This,” a book by Divya Sood, is comforting. We don’t hear too many love stories involving the LGBT community, let alone the South Asian LGBT. community. That is why Sood’s book is refreshing. It represents an important facet of our nation and our identity.
The book is a love story that comes with its own chaos — romance, heartbreak, tragedy, self-discovery, all of which develop as a love triangle blooms. The uniqueness of it lies in the central characters, Jess, Anjali, and Vanessa.
Jess is a career-driven romantic. She is intelligent and raring to go as she focuses on her writing career and is living in with her girlfriend Anjali. However, when she randomly meets Vanessa, she believes they are meant-to-be too and falls wholeheartedly in love with her. There are twists you don’t expect, and they take fulfillingtrips that lead them to discover who they really are. Most importantly — the story feels relatable at some point or the other. You definitely know a Jess, or you probably are one.
There is a connection that Sood manages to bring out with her writing. Through these characters, their lives, their thoughts, you are taken on your own journey of understanding love. As Sood puts it eloquently in her book, “There it was again, this word ‘love.’ Were it an object, I would have held love in my hands and turned it over a million times trying to understand its curves and nuances. I would have put it in my mouth and tasted from it, shaken it and seen if it made a sound. Because s it stood now, I couldn’t grasp what love looked like or sounded like or felt like.”
The protagonist, Jess, struggles between her choice of lovers. There is no denying she loves them both and that they love her back. But it can never be as simple as picking one. As her idea of relationships begins to change and transform and change some more, she goes through heartbreaks, betrayals, and causes damage herself. In the end, it’s all about trying to figure out what really matters most.
Another great aspect of the book lies outside of the love triangle. Jess’ interactions with her mother, for example, aren’t the standard mother-daughter conversations you expect. The book also navigates in the direction of a cross-cultural relationship, another aspect not explored much or spoken about in the diaspora.
The 39-year-old author wanted to create a romance novel for the South Asian LGBT community devoid of stereotypes and for the most part, that is a job well done. Are there certain cliches or some predictable turns? Yes, but that’s only because you relate to the characters and can develop a sense of what they might do next.
As a member of the diaspora, Sood has stirred an important conversation with her book — the inclusion of the LGBT community. She knows it’s a taboo topic and she is willing to change that. The fact that she is in love with a woman and not a man is just that—a fact, she has said. The gender of the person you are in love with isn’t what matters, it’s the feelings. Sood makes that plenty clear through her characters.
As a reviewer on Amazon puts it perfectly about “Nights Like This,” — the story is begging to be a steamy, funny, made-for-amazon series.
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