BOOK NEWS
May 2024
I have some exciting news: My latest book, Sunshine Clinic: A Novel with Recipes, is now available on Amazon (link below).
Sunshine Clinic is a stand-alone conclusion to the heart-warming family saga that began with My Mother's Kitchen and was followed by Seeing Ceremony.
Sunny Unnikrishnan grew up in Mahagiri under the long shadow of her older sister Meena and her strong-willed mother. Now, she is ready to become her own person. The newly qualified doctor finds a job in a village and must overcome age-old practices and superstitions.
Each day is a new adventure for Dr. Sunny, who finds support and friendship in unexpected places. The nuns at the regional Carmelite mission and a woman reputed to be a witch befriend the young doctor. Dr. Sunny's life becomes complicated when she meets handsome Scotsman Callum MacPherson. Their tentative courtship is threatened when Callum's ex-girlfriend, Ella, comes for a surprise visit. Callum will need the help of the entire community to win back Sunny.
An editor who worked on the book compared it to James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small! She also added the book has evocative descriptions and a laugh-out-loud romantic ending. Dr. Sunny’s days are filled with heartwarming and heartbreaking incidents.
Hope you will buy the book and post a review if you enjoyed it.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
The book is a result of my lifelong love of all things medical.
As a teenager (along with most of my friends), I wanted to become a doctor. The summer we graduated from high school, my mother took a group of my closest girlfriends to visit several medical schools in south India.
It was a grand adventure, which included sleeping outside on bamboo cots and watching the tropical sun rise over the coconut palms. Seeing the enormous, brilliantly orange sun hanging low on the eastern horizon was breathtaking.
We came home excited and exhilarated. A few hours later, I came down with a terrible case of food poisoning. After spending a sleepless night, my mother became alarmed at my listlessness and rushed me to the local hospital. The doctor was a family friend and took good care of me. I spent two days convalescing in the clinic.
When the doctor heard I was interested in becoming a physician, he came to talk to me. He asked me, "Why do you want to become a doctor?"
I replied, "So I can pen a book about all the quirky characters I will meet in the small village, just like James Herriot."
I explained that Herriot was a veterinarian and had written several entertaining books based on his life as a vet in rural England.
The doctor listened to me attentively and finally spoke up, "It sounds like you want to be a writer more than a doctor."
It was a moment of epiphany for me because I realized he was right. I didn't want to become an MD. I just wanted to write about the experience of being one.
I decided to turn my childhood dreams into a fictional book. The result is Sunshine Clinic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing about Dr. Sunny and her adventures.
Happy Reading! And reviewing!