‘Arathi Menon has created such a beautifully memorable character in Ved, a boy who knows everything and nothing all at the same time, who does not realise that he is living under a heavy shadow. It was a struggle to hold my tears in until the end of this beautiful novel .’ – Marcia Hutchinson, Author of The Mercy Step’ (Women’s Prize shortlist 2026) 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 . Anna Wharton is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and memoir. She was a print and broadcast journalist for almost 30 years, writing for newspapers including The Times and The Guardian, and magazines such as The Sunday Times Magazine. She was formally an executive editor at the Daily Mail. She has ghostwritten ten memoirs including the Sunday Times Bestsellers Somebody I Used to Know and What I Wish People Knew About Dementia by Wendy Mitchell. She was longlisted for The Orwell Prize for her work on CUT: One Woman’s Fight Against FGM in Britain Today by Hibo Wardere. Her novel The Imposter, was published by Mantle in 2021 and her first memoir will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann in 2027. She is a fellow of the Royal Literary Fund and will be based at Goldsmiths University from the autumn. About the Book 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 he

Description supplied by the event organiser.