Tania James' debut novel set for April 21 release

Atlas of Unknowns, the debut novel of Tania James (class of '99), comes out on April 21. I'm about halfway through the book now, and it's terrific. I'll be doing an interview with Tania later this month for a story that will appear in the upcoming spring issue of Connections.

The Courier-Journal ran a great article on Tania in their Arts section yesterday:

"Junot Diaz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,' described 'Atlas of Unknowns' as 'an astonishment of a debut, so radiant with life, with love, with good old human struggle that I had trouble detaching myself from its pages.' Critically acclaimed author Nathan Englander ('The Ministry of Special Cases') calls her 'the real deal.'

Accolades like these signal that 28-year-old James is a writer to watch. But despite this praise, James admits she's still nervous about her novel's April 21 release.

'In the writing process I think about audience, but an audience that agrees with me,' she said with a laugh. 'Now it's just a whole different set of conversations. I'm anxious.'

'Atlas of Unknowns' tells the story of Linno and Anju, two girls raised in India by their father and grandmother after their mother's mysterious death. The novel follows Anju's experiences in America, where she ends up after landing a scholarship to a prestigious school in New York — a scholarship she betrays her sister to win.

Meanwhile, Linno begins to blossom back in Kerala, rejecting a wealthy blind suitor and using her artistic gifts to make her own success. But when Anju goes missing, Linno's life is thrown off track and she's determined to get to America to find her sister.

'Family is just a wonderful theater for fiction,' said James, who has two sisters. 'There's just so much conflict and resentment and antagonism and all of this is co-existing with love.'"

The novel's page on Amazon.com includes an essay by Tania about the origin of the novel, and below is the book trailer released recently to promote the book.


Atlas of Unknowns - Tania James - Final Spot from Khushi Films on Vimeo.