Farzana Doctorยs Stealing Nasreen isnยt the typical debut novel, but then again, Doctor isnยt the typical debut novelist. Stealing Nasreen deals with an Indo-Canadian lesbian therapist who becomes involved with a supposedly straight couple, recent immigrants from Mumbai, India, in a doomed love triangle (try saying that five times fast). The author herself is ย would you never guess ย an Indo-Canadian lesbian therapist. Hey, where have we heard that before? Well, they say you should write about what you know, and it seems Doctor knows about love, loss and the struggle to fit in.
She laughs at the obvious comparison between her lead character and herself. ยI did want to write about some of the realities that I have definitely observed and the realities of the communities that Iยm a part of,ย she says. ยBut this is a work of fiction. Most of the time people link the character of Nasreen to meย and because itยs my first novel, I did want to have at least one character who was somewhat familiar. Iยm hoping that people will pick it up as a fun summer read, even if they donยt share any of these identities.ย Doctor has already crisscrossed the U.S. and Canada reading and signing her book. ยItยs been really lovely. Iยve had really mixed crowds. I have had predominantly South Asian crowds, and also predominantly gay and lesbian/bi/trans crowds. Itยs been really interesting to have that mix.ย
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2007.