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Find Someone to Love

by Divya Sood
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buy ebook for $9.99buy printbook for $19.99

Set in the surprisingly charming world of New York City opticians, Find Someone to Love follows Priya, a young optician working for a Queens practice full of characters. There’s Sam, whose life revolves around his store, 20/20. There’s Ed, who always loves a good snack and has a mysterious past. And then there is Dr. Bello, who is a colorful woman, to say the least.

Things in Priya’s world get turned upside down when Dr. Bello is replaced by a new optometrist, who is an unexpected, but beloved, blast from her past. Priya’s routine world changes when she has to answer questions of herself she was always too afraid to ask.

With a mixture of humor and heartache, Find Someone To Love explores the power of the past and the ephemeral nature of the present, the redemptive power of love, and the bonds of friendship.

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Joc Adamson
6/30/2019

I got an overwhelming sense of quietness from this story and I think that much of that has to do with it being told from Priya's point of view in first person. Part of it also has to do with it being a small cast in a fairly closed setting. Priya works at an optician called 20/20 with Sam who is the owner, Ed who is a technician like her and Dr Bello who is the optician. It's not long before the difficult Dr Bello is replaced by Dr LM Ibrahim. Priya is quite self-contained within this environment so in the New York office she trades light banter with her colleagues but in her head she thinks about her cousin Prem, who has just committed suicide in India. They were close, both being gay but knowing limitations of their families and culture. Entwined with these thoughts are those she has of Leyla, her best friend of twenty years before and the woman she fell in love with. The prose is beautiful and lyrical. It's worth reading for that alone. The threads of her relationship with Prem as well as those with Leyla are carefully interwoven with the present. There is lightness around her office interactions but I found it didn't balance out some of the heavier themes. I loved the experience of reading this novel but it’s not one I can say I enjoyed. I felt an empathy for Priya because it felt like being inside her head and I think she’s going to be in mine for some time.


Reviewer @Large
6/30/2019

This book is about love but most definitely not a romance. During college, Priya is in love with her best friend Leyla. After a miscarriage and heartbreak, Leyla leaves and effectively disappears from Priya’s life. Seventeen years have passed. Priya is working as an optician at 20/20. Her cousin, Prem, recently committed suicide back home in Calcutta, India. Priya’s thoughts are constantly occupied by the past and centred around Prem and Leyla. The past walks into the present when Leyla comes in as the new optometrist at 20/20. Priya has nursed and nurtured her feelings for Leyla all these years and they come back in a rush, though Leyla is married. The book is heavy reading but written in a strangely addictive prose. Neither Priya nor Leyla are perfect but at the end of the book they are not terrible people either. In fact, Leyla is quite a beautiful person. This is neither a feel-good book nor a romance but hauntingly realistic.


Heather Bennett
6/30/2019

Find Someone to Love is a unique story that takes place over 17 years between two women. Well written and interesting characters. I would read more by this author


m hew
6/30/2019

A poignant story of love, loss, and personal growth. The prose is beautiful and vivid. Following Priya on her journey through the last 17 years is a wonderful experience. I will say this is not a romance book but it is a book about love. Readers be aware of this going in.

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Copyright © 2019 Divya Sood

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Divya Sood

Divya Sood was born in Kolkata, India. She migrated to the United States as a child and grew up in Edison, New Jersey. Upon graduation from Edison High School, she was awarded the medal for Outstanding Achievement in English. She attended Rutgers University for her undergraduate work with a major in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. While at Rutgers, she was awarded the Evelyn Hamilton First Prize for Fiction, the Edna N. Herzberg First Prize for Fiction, and the New Jersey Chapter of National Society of Arts and Letters First Prize for Short Fiction. Divya holds a Master of Arts in English from New York University. She resides in Queens, New York.

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