Chapters (40)
- Cover
- Also by Saumya Dave
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Acknowledgments
- Readers Guide
- Discussion Questions
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
To everyone at Berkley, thank you for making your authors feel valued and supported. I am so grateful to be a part of your team. I can’t wait until we see each other again.
This book wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of my family. For all of 2020, I lived with my grandparents, parents, siblings, husband, and son. The ages in our house ranged from one to ninety-five. Dad, your work ethic and patience have always inspired me. Thank you for always encouraging us to advocate for others and give back. Your sensitivity gives us safety and your compassion gives us strength. Mom, thank you for being the rock of our house. I’m still not sure how you’ve taken care of four generations of people for so long. You’ve given us all a love of art and human nature and for those, we will always be grateful. Maansi, you are the changemaker of our family. Thank you for teaching all of us how to be fearless, unapologetic, and bold. If Natasha could have a friend like you, she’d be the luckiest woman alive. Akshay, you inspire us with your wisdom and wit. It’s been an honor to see you as such a caring uncle and I will always be so grateful for how you add peace to our family.
Samir, everything in our lives changed in ways we could have never imagined. You somehow found a way to make an adventure out of new parenthood during a pandemic. Thank you for believing in me when I struggled to believe in myself. Thank you for advocating for me when I struggled to advocate for myself. You read this story before I knew what it would turn into and embraced it as your own. Thank you for being the best partner I could ask for through every draft, character edit, late-night feed, diaper change, and more. I create because of you.
Sahil, you are our everything. Thank you for teaching me how to count the wins whenever they come, relish the present, and embrace uncertainty. We love your endless curiosity for life and can’t wait to take you into the world more in 2021 and beyond.
I wrote this book while I navigated new motherhood. Thank you to the mothers in my support network, who kept me going during the tender and tough moments. To my friends, your texts, phone calls, and messages were my lifelines during an isolative time. Jaimini Dave Maniar, thank you for reading the first pages, reassuring me that there was something worthwhile here, and being there for me during every moment of self-doubt. Bansari Modi Shah, thank you for checking in and providing support at all hours.