Starred review from November 11, 2024
Sathian (Gold Diggers) wraps a whip-smart satire of Millennial womanhood around an arresting story of mistaken identity. Narrator Sanjana Satyananda leaves her husband, actor Killian Bane, behind at a commune in India, driven away by his pressure to have children. She returns to New Haven, Ct., where she confirms she’s pregnant and has an abortion. Afterward, however, she begins receiving mysterious text messages from strangers in India congratulating her on her pregnancy. Meanwhile, she struggles to restart her life, as she’s unable to contact Killian to initiate divorce proceedings. She also withers under the scrutiny of her married older sister, Maneesha, who monitors her on a home security camera while she house-sits for the Hindu couple, and chafes at her friend Lia’s joy at being pregnant. At Lia’s baby shower, a guest shows her an Instagram account belonging to a pregnant woman named Sanjena Sathian, who looks just like her, and she realizes the mystery messages are likely meant for Sanjena. The novel then morphs into a dazzling Operation Shylock–esque hall of mirrors, as the narrator heads back to India for the dual purpose of tracking down Killian and confronting her double, a search that eventually leads her to a Hindu fertility resort. Sathian’s social commentary is riotous (guests at Lia’s shower wear masks with Lia’s face emblazoned with the term “MommyBoss”) and she finds intriguing new angles on the doppelgänger theme (“I never knew you could accidentally become the wrong version of you”). This is incandescent. Agent: Susan Golomb, Writers House.
