Launch Party for 'Da' by Arathi Menon

Join us at Bookbar Islington, London to launch the tender LGBTQ novel 'Da' by Arathi Menon - in conversation with Sean Gilbert (author of I'll Be the Monster.)

This is a story of love between a father and a son.

Inquisitive 13-year-old Ved’s entire universe is his adoptive father, Da. From cooking him the perfect biryani, to helping him navigate his first school dance and his first girlfriend, Da lets Ved be himself.

Fiercely loving and fiercely protective, their relationship harbours a secret that could destroy them both: Da is gay at a time when Section 377, a colonial law, makes homosexuality a crime. Beyond the law, vigilante gangs prowl the shadows, targeting those they deem ‘unnatural’ as Da and Ved’s happy existence grows ever more fragile.

Set in an Indian metropolis in 2013, Da is a tender story of a boy caught between devotion and fear, chronicling the everyday courage it takes to love someone the world refuses to accept.


'Immersive, devastating and immensely enjoyable - this father-and-son novel will stay with you even after you turn the last page.' - Sangeeta Mulay, Author of 'Disobedient Women'


About the Author


Arathi Menon is an author and columnist based in London. She completed her MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) at the University of East Anglia. Her debut book, a memoir titled Leaving Home with Half a Fridge, was published by Pan Macmillan India. Her middle-grade mystery novel, A Thud in the Middle of the Night, was brought out by DC Books, Kerala, and later published by Yali Books, New York, under the title A Mystery at Lili Villa.

Her awards include the SI Leeds Literary Prize and Novel London. She has also been on numerous shortlists and longlists, including the BPA First Novel Award, Cinnamon Literary Award, Virginia Prize for Fiction, UA 100X100, FAB Prize, Ivan Juritz Prize and the Penguin WriteNow programme. She was part of a spoken word group installation at Tate Modern, London.