Marriage of a Thousand Lies - Paperback

by Sj Sindu (Author)

"What a gorgeous, heartbreaking novel."--Roxane Gay
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A necessary and exciting addition to both the Sri Lankan-American and LGBTQ canons, SJ Sindu's debut novel offers a moving and sharply rendered​ exploration of friendship, family, love, and loss.

Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan-American families, while each dates on the side. It's not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky's grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she's never met.

As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade's worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky--an outsider no matter what choices she makes--is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

Author Biography

SJ Sindu is a Tamil diaspora author of two literary novels, two hybrid chapbooks, and two forthcoming graphic novels. Sindu's first novel, Marriage of a Thousand Lies, won the Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award and the second novel, Blue-Skinned Gods, is currently a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Sindu's newest work is the hybrid chapbook titled Dominant Genes. Sindu holds a PhD in English and Creative Writing from Florida State University and teaches at the University of Toronto Scarborough. More at sjsindu.com or @sjsindu on Twitter/Instagram.