Everything Was Good-Bye
The youngest of six daughters raised by a widowed mother, Meena is a young woman struggling to find her place in the world. Originally from India, her family still holds onto many old world customs and traditions that seem stifling to a young North American woman.
"...a brave book, and also a pleasure to read: emotionally engaging, sensuous, vibrant and beautifully observed."
- Kathy Page, author of The Find, Alphabet, The Story of My Face, The Two of Us
Against her mother's wishes, Meena falls for a man named Liam who asks her to run away with him. She must then make a painful choice–one that will lead to stunning and irrevocable consequences. Heartbreaking and beautiful, Everything Was Good-bye is an unforgettable story about family, love and loss, and the struggles of living in two different cultural worlds.
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PRAISE for Everything Was Good-bye
“a fascinating story, skillfully written, of a rebellious young woman's remarkable courage."
—Jack Hodgins, author of The Master of Happy Endings, Broken Ground, The Invention of The World
"...a brave book, and also a pleasure to read: emotionally engaging, sensuous, vibrant and beautifully observed."
—Kathy Page, author of The Find, Alphabet, The Story of My Face, The Two of Us
"A tender novel about identity and the search for belonging that is both humorous and heartbreaking. In Meena, Basran has created a feisty, complicated and irrepressible heroine."
—Thrity Umrigar, author of the bestselling "The Space Between Us" and "The World We Found."
"Basran's writing is by turns elegant and poetic..."
"Thought provoking and compelling...a timely and engaging read..."
"A sad story, ending in a misery born from that clash of cultures, but the writing is vivid, full of crackling dialogue and the plot is completely absorbing...Basran's book reminds me of the Pulitzer-prize winning novelist, Bengali American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, who also draw the outsider into the world of Indian immigrants to North America, vividly expressing their difficult adaptation...She is clearly on the same path as Lahiri, a write on the first step to greatness."
"Exceptional"
—The Vancouver Sun
"(This) complex drama of knowing someone by heart is universal...Fans of Jhumpa Lahiri will want to read this first novel.”
—Booklist
"Everything Was Good-bye is an achievement to be proud of and has garnered the recognition and positive attention it deserves."