Painting Kuwait Violet is out! Yay! I’m so happy to share this news with you. We went through nearly six rounds of edits. My editor John De Boer was really kind and patient through the whole process. You might be familiar with the cover. I shared it with you all a while back.

Here’s the book.

You can purchase your copy from Amazon here. 

Here’s the blurb: In 1996, a young graduate, Violet Baretto leaves Goa to work in oil-rich Kuwait as a maid for a wealthy Kuwaiti woman. To her horror, she finds herself accused of theft, her colleagues assaulted, thrown from moving cars or performing ‘favors.’

Sabah Dashti, the Kuwaiti matriarch can’t tell Violet the truth; nine of Sabah’s previous maids have absconded, five of them were found pregnant or that the police think she’s running a prostitution ring. Sabah has no idea who’s responsible.

Kuwait is still patriarchal and women are second-class citizens. Despite their differences, both Sabah and Violet are hungry for success as it will give them a chance to live life on their own terms. Together they build a thriving business.

But a woman-hating, the killer has set eyes on them and will not let them succeed at any cost. Poignant, chilling and honest, Painting Kuwait Violet underlines the reality of women on either side of the country’s class divide.

Over the next month I’ll share more about why I wrote Painting Kuwait Violet. Why the issue of maids and abuse is so important and needs to be addressed in the Middle East.

I’ll share giveaways and prizes. I am giving away 50 review copies on Bookfunnel for just 1 month! I’d appreciate it if you could let me know what you think of the book. I do understand its a controversial subject and I’m hoping that people see this region with a fresh perspective.

I also want to thank the people who made this book possible in little ways. Samarpita Mukherjee who read this first and gave me developmental feedback. Also, Jill Storm who was my beta reader and told me me to keep all the food in the book. Carrie Pestritto for her advice on the market for this book. Kaelan Rhywiol who took my query and polished it till it sung! John, my editor,  who edited this book with a fine tooth comb, you deserve all the credit.

I agree it takes a village to publish a book. These were the people in my corner, who helped me in many ways. I hope you enjoy reading Painting Kuwait Violet as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’m giddy about this release. There’s not been much fanfare about it as I hope to engage more than just my romance readers. Women’s fiction readers will like the hard hitting subjects here.

Give it a read and tell me what you think.