Rheea Mukherjee's work has been published in Scroll.in, Southern Humanities Review, LA Times, Huffington Post, Out of Print, LIT magazine, and Bengal Lights, among others. Her previous fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart and was a semi-finalist for the Black Lawrence Press award. Rheea holds an MFA in writing from California College of The Arts in San Francisco. She co-founded Bangalore Writers Workshop in 2012 and currently co-runs Write Leela Write, a Design and Content Laboratory in Bangalore.
Mira is a teacher living in the heart of Suryam, 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.
The Body Myth is full of questions, about our bodies and minds, about mental illness, about the history of trauma, and about the depths of friendship and loveMukherjee's novel encapsulates the heady breathlessness of falling in loveThe Body Myth is such a smart and complex exploration of what it means to be in a body in the world, what it means to be in a body that is ill, and what it means to be in a body in love. And like all of those states of being, the book is filled with ambiguity and contradictionsThrow your stereotypes about India out the door:
The Body Myth is a playful, inventive exploration of an unconventional relationship. Sara is enigmatic and mysteriously ill: will her sickness bring her closer to her husband and friend, or tear the three of them apart? Risk-taking, joyfully sensual, and deeply wise,
The Body Myth is full of unexpected twists that will keep you coming back for moreWitty, 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 charactersThe vulnerable, winning narration demonstrates a woman going through an entire spectrum of feelings; there's a lot going on in the emotional landscape of this book. The tension of how each character will react to the others' moods and changing affections keeps the reading experience engrossingRheea Mukherjee's novel
The Body Myth centers around a woman living a relatively isolated life, with a penchant for existentialist literature. Her life becomes intertwined with that of a married couple, creating a space for Mukherjee to explore questions of intimacy, illness, and desire
The Body Myth grabbed me with the same intensity that Mira was grabbed by Sara and Rahil. There were moments where I found myself as enthralled by the sickly sultry life, despite knowing how potentially toxic and maladaptive it wasThrough unique insights, wit, and philosophy, Rheea Mukherjee's
The Body Myth takes a deep look into issues of the freedom to choose, emotional availability and capacity, and what it means to build a friendship when each day is a struggle to feel truly wellRheea 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 novelLike 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 readMukherjee explores the boundaries of socially acceptable romantic love in her debut novel, which is also an intriguing exploration of narrative style
