This latest review is by Paola Zoppi, the artistic director of LibrIn Terra Arts Festival in Valperga, Italy on the Italian edition of Haunting Bombay.  The review, of course, is in Italian but Paola was kind enough to translate a few lines for me.  She writes, “The reader will discover the Mittal family through fascinating language, sharp and rich… Agarwal paints a family gripped by their own guilt… the ghosts that knocking at the door are the voices with they have to deal, sooner or later, in their life….”  Additionally, Paola writes of Haunting Bombay that it is “intense, special, mysterious, cruel and nostalgic, it caught me until the end.” Click here for the full review.

I was delighted to see this review of my book written by a blogger who is attempting to read every fiction book in the Bella Vista Library. She writes, “Agarwal’s first novel is a brilliant story…more than just a ghost story; it’s a story of love, hurt, great loss, vengeance and understanding… This novel was truly a work of art. In fact I love it so much that I am giving it an A+.  Click here to read the review.

ARTWALLAH, North America’s renowned festival of dynamic South Asian art is this weekend, June 18-20th in Santa Monica, CA.  This year ArtWallah partners with the venerable Highways Performance Space in presenting the freshest in Cultural-Art-Collision, food and family fun. Classically grass-roots in nature but modern in form and context, ArtWallah’s fringing of music, dance, solo performance/stand-up, literature, poetry, film and visual art, digs deeply into its ethnic roots: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to find its fusion in a uniquely American expressionism.  For more on ArtWallah, and to buy tickets, click here.

Haunting Bombay was just released this month in paperback with a discussion guide tucked in the back for book clubs.  It’s been an amazing year since the publication of my hardback last April.  I’ve travel the country, met wonderful authors, signed books, and discovered fans.  I am thankful to all the bookstores who have invited me, the many book clubs who have hosted me (whether in person or on the phone), and the family and friends who have supported me.   Read the rest of this entry »

The Nervous Breakdown, an online magazine featuring the work of published and emerging authors, poets, and other artists from around the world, has featured me on their site.  Their signature piece is the self-interview in which you get to ask yourself all the questions that others may have missed.  In mine, I talk about ghosts and reincarnation, my battle with Crohn’s disease, and why I like Wonder Woman.  Click here for interview.

I drove into sun-drenched Tucson this weekend for the annual Tucson Book Festival held at the University of Arizona.  The weekend was kicked off by an Author’s Table cocktail and dinner to raise money for local literacy programs.  ”Untold stories are like stones on the heart,” quoted the Festival Chair.  Saturday morning, I spoke on a panel titled, “Other Countries, Other Crimes” with fellow Soho Press author Cara Black.  I caught the tail-end of a circus (no animals) in the children’s section of the Festival with acrobats and a contortionist.  Saturday evening concluded with a fete at Glen’s Brewery and, across the street, a free screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Click here for more on Saturday’s Mystery Panel. Read the rest of this entry »

Since I’ve published Haunting Bombay, it has been reviewed by a number of book bloggers out there in cyberspace.  One of my favorite bloggers is Swapna of S. Krishna Books whose reviews are consistently well-written and thoughtful.  I was thrilled when she reviewed Haunting Bombay this week, calling it “a masterpiece of multicultural fiction” and “compulsively readable” with writing that is “beautiful.”  Swapna also writes,  ”It is difficult to tell that this is [Agarwal’s] first novel - her prose has the skill and confidence of a master of the craft.”  Click here for the full review.

Fantasy Book Critic reviewed Haunting Bombay this week, calling it “easily one of the best books of the year” with writing that is “captivating and elegant” and “a sheer pleasure to read.”  Click here for the full review.

I’ve been doing a lot travel in the past months, speaking at various literary events and this weekI had the opportunity to go on a virtual book tour with TLC Tours.  Book bloggers have hosted me on their sites, reviewing my book or inviting me to write a guest blog - and all this without ever having to leave my home or pack a suitcase.Here’s what they are saying about Haunting Bombay:   Darlene at Peeking Between the Pages writes, “From the beginning of the book I was hooked and I just kept turning those pages in an attempt to find out what was going to finally happen. It was a book that kept me on the edge of my seat a bit while giving me shivers up and down my spine.”Ramya of Ramya’s Bookshelf writes, “The prologue instantly gripped me - the mysterious air, the freaky characters, a subtle hint of deaths and more, etc and I couldn’t put the book down. From that moment, until I turned the last page - I was hooked to haunting Bombay. It has been a while since I read a book that engrossing.”Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty writes, “Haunting Bombay lives up to its title. It is a haunting tale full of mystery, forbidden love, dark secrets, and mysticism. Shilpa Agarwal’s writing is beautiful, her story intense. I fell in love with this novel on the very first page and that feeling never wavered. If anything, it grew with each turn of the page.”Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit writes, “Agarwal’s poetic language is like a siren song, pulling the reader into the Mittal family’s struggles with one another… Readers looking for a ghost story will get more than they bargained for with Haunting Bombay. It’s a ghost story, mystery, and historical novel carefully crafted to hypnotize the reader.”

This insightful review just out from Seacoastonline, a newspaper serving New Hampshire and Maine, makes the observation that I have set “the arc of this debut novel to the rhythm of India’s climate. The parched heat strains tempers, and the still air lies heavy with secrets. The first monsoon rains bring giddy relief, renewing married love and awakening forbidden young hopes before the relentless wetness seeps into every crack and corner of the place, sprouting mold and hastening decay.” Click here for full review.