The Body Myth

Rheea Mukherjee

A moving exploration of loss, Mukherjee delivers an intense and unexpected modern love story as Mira reconciles reality with desire.

Mira is a teacher living in the heart of Suryam, a modern bustling city in India, and the only place in the world the fickle Rasagura fruit grows. Mira lives alone, and with only the French existentialists as companions, until the day she witnesses a beautiful woman having a seizure in the park. Mira runs to help her but is cautious, for she could have sworn the woman looked around to see if anyone was watching right before the seizure began.

Mira is quickly drawn into the lives of this mysterious woman Sara, who suffers a myriad of unexplained illnesses, and her kind, intensely supportive husband Rahil, striking up intimate, volatile and fragile friendships with each of them that quickly become something more.

Praise for The Body Myth

"Witty, melancholic, and dramatic by turns, Rheea Mukherjee’s The Body Myth is a touching love story about misfits searching for togetherness, even if that togetherness might not be healthy for all concerned… The Body Myth is a compelling tale, rich in emotional undercurrents and empathy for its unconventional characters."

—Foreword Reviews

"Rheea Mukherjee has written a thought provoking and memorable meditation on the meaning of life. In seductive prose, The Body Myth, explores the depths and boundaries of relationships, conventional and unconventional, and the meaning of intimacy in sickness and health. A fine novel."

—Soniah Kamal, award winning author of Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan

"Like the Rasagura fruit Rheea Mukherjee so eloquently writes about, The Body Myth is a tender love story at its core: sweet, sour, and bursting with wisdom. An intoxicating read."

—Neel Patel, author of If You See Me, Don’t Say Hi

"Mukherjee’s novel encapsulates the heady breathlessness of falling in love."

—Publishers Weekly

"Mukherjee explores the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic love in her debut novel, which is also an intriguing exploration of narrative style."

—Booklist