1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Our Best Intentions follows an Indian-American working class father and daughter who get caught up in a crime in their affluent New York suburb and must confront uncomfortable and searing issues of race, class, belonging, and understanding the ones we love.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The setting of the novel is integral to the plot: the book is about what happens in the wake of a crime in an affluent suburb; how truths become obscured, and relationships fractured under the weight of often subtle, but pernicious, classism and privilege. Having grown up in the suburbs of the Northeast, it felt natural for the story take place in a tristate suburb.
4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! I’d hang out with both Babur and Angie. I think Babur would be amusing as a chatterbox driver bragging about his daughter, the prodigal swimmer. I’d also find his commitment to being a good parent is endearing. Angie, while quieter, has impressive inner tenacity and focus. I could also use a swimming lesson or two from her.
5–What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Babur – a meticulous optimist; genuine
Angie – fierce; an independent thinker
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That revising is 100 times harder than writing a first draft.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I like to write as much as possible and return to revise after I’ve gotten words on a page, because the temptation to obsess over finding the perfect phrasing if I edit as I go can be paralyzing and discouraging.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Well since you said indulgence, salmon sashimi and Greek salad clearly don’t count. I’m a sucker for a fresh fruit flavored gelato on a summer day.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I’ve only recently started writing at a desk. Most of this novel was written in various states of repose on a couch, in an armchair, or curled up in bed.
10–Who is an author you admire?
Yes! Zadie Smith. White Teeth is one of my favorite novels. It features a colorful and thought-provoking cast of characters and perfectly captures the discordance and hypocrisies of multiculturalism in Britain. Smith showed me that writing can be vibrant, fun, and funny, but also tackle real issues. I also spent part of my childhood in Northwest London, so I’m drawn to fiction set in that quadrant of London.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
I remain in awe of the mastery and beauty of Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories in Interpreter of Maladies and later in Unaccustomed Earth. She was the first Indian American writer whom I remember reading that made me feel like I could write stories featuring characters like me.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was in my third trimester of pregnancy and driving back from an ultrasound appointment. I remember getting a call from my agent and pulling over in the parking lot of a CVS to call her back. Selling your first novel is surreal; I don’t think I processed my book was going to be published until weeks later.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary fiction either about strong women or complex family dramas
14–What’s your favorite movie?
The Departed
15–What is your favorite season?
Fall. Colorful leaves, sweater weather, pumpkin spice everything. What’s not to love?
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With a weekend getaway that involves sunshine, exercise, and delicious food and drinks.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The last movie I watched was Minari – it’s a beautiful and heart wrenching portrait of a young immigrant family trying to make it in America.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Sushi
19–What do you do when you have free time?
Cuddle and giggle with my one-year-old daughter; curl up with a mug of tea and a good book; binge watch a crime thriller on Netflix; go for a long walk with my husband.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
A novel that explores voyeurism, jealousy, and toxic friendships.
OUR BEST INTENTIONS by Vibhuti Jain
A pulsating debut about an immigrant family that gets caught in the middle of a criminal investigation, perfect for readers of Everything I Never Told You and Ask Again, Yes.
Babur “Bobby” Singh, single parent and owner of fledging Uber business “Move with Bobby,” remains ever hopeful about ascending the ladder of American success. He lives in an affluent suburb of New York with his daughter Angie, an introverted teenager who is uncomfortable in her own skin unless she’s swimming.
During summer break, Angie is walking home after training at the high school pool when she finds Henry McCleary, a classmate from a wealthy, prominent family, stabbed and bleeding on the football field. The police immediately focus their investigation on Chiara Thompkins, a runaway Black girl who disappears after the stabbing and—it’s later discovered—wasn’t properly enrolled in the public high school.
The incident sends shock waves through the community and reveals jarring truths about the lengths to which families will go to protect themselves. As the town fractures, Angie must navigate conflicting narratives and wrestle with her own moral culpability. Meanwhile, Babur’s painstaking efforts to shield Angie and protect his hard-earned efforts to assimilate overshadow his ability to see right from wrong.
Alternating between multiple perspectives, Our Best Intentions is a suspenseful drama about a father and daughter re-examining their familial bonds and place in the community. Both a gripping page-turner and an intimate portrait of an immigrant family, Vibhuti Jain’s provocative debut explores how easily friendships, careers, communities, and individual lives can unravel when the toxicity of privilege and racial bias are exposed.
Coming of Age | Women’s Fiction [William Morrow, On Sale: March 14, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780063278783 / eISBN: 9780063278776]
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About Vibhuti Jain
Vibhuti (“Vib”) Jain lives with her husband and daughter in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she works in international development. She began her career as a corporate lawyer in New York City. She holds degrees from Yale University and Harvard Law School. She grew up in Guilford, Connecticut.
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