Jyoti Patel, The Things That We Lost: ‘This novel was a reflection of real life’
Hindustan TimesThe Things That We Lost explores the trauma of a British-Gujarati family with hyphenated identities. I didn’t have a super clear idea of which direction the novel would go in when I began writing, but I knew that these themes would be integral. I, therefore, didn’t want to home in on one relationship, but rather explore the web of many that surround both Avani and Nik. Also, as you mention, I wanted to show Avani and Nik almost growing up alongside each other in the 1970s and ’80s London and 2017-18 respectively, to examine what was going on in Britain during those two moments. Even when I wasn’t writing or editing the novel for months on end during that time, I was still thinking about my characters, wondering how they would react in certain moments, wondering what they’d say to each other.
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