India, 2013. Ved has just turned 13 and he lives with his non-biological father – the titular ‘Da’. The pair share a fierce bond – full of tenderness and affection – but it also becomes apparent that ‘Da’ is gay. Ved, who narrates the tale with all the naivety and curiosity of a young teen, discovers this fact when he walks into his father’s room one night and catches him having sex with another man. It’s a knife-edge existence for ‘Da’ (homosexuality wasn’t legalised in India until 2018) but Ved takes it in his stride – despite the fact that at his school, anything remotely “gay” is the ultimate slur. In her luminous new novel, Arathi Menon really captures the mindset of a young, hormonal teen, who is trying to find his place in the world while also trying to negotiate a dynamic where familial love is an act of bravery. RM

Published by Fly on the Wall Press