Saborna’s second novel, “Everything Here Belongs to You,” was released in June by Texas based publisher, Black Rose Writing and received a starred review from Indie Reader. Kirkus Reviews called her book, “A heart-wrenching family drama, as powerful as it is delicate." The novel was well-received in other publications in the U.S. and elsewhere, including the Sublime Book Review and Readers' Favorite.

On September 1st, 2022, her book won 3rd Place/Bronze Medal in the prestigious Reader's Favorite International Book Awards contest, competing against thousands of entrants worldwide, category Fiction-Drama. Saborna's book is also the International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club International pick for 2025.

Saborna's debut novel THE DISTANCE was published by the independent press Istoria Books and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her short story "Bengal Monsoon” appeared in  New York Stories  magazine and received a Pushcart Prize nomination.

Saborna was born and raised in Kolkata, India, and moved to the U.S. for undergraduate work in chemistry. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and twin daughters. When she is not writing and chasing fictional characters, she is a very earnest Chemistry Instructor at various Community Colleges. 

My second novel, “Everything Here Belongs to You,” was released in June, 2022 by Texas based publisher, Black Rose Writing and received a starred review from Indie Reader. Kirkus Reviews called her book, “A heart-wrenching family drama, as powerful as it is delicate." The novel was well-received in other publications in the U.S. and elsewhere, including the “The Brooklyn Review '' and “India Currents.”. On September 1st, 2022, her book won 3rd Place/Bronze Medal in the prestigious Reader's Favorite International Book Awards contest, competing against thousands of entrants worldwide, category Fiction-Drama.

My novel is an absorbing, richly detailed narrative set in the early 2000s in Kolkata that explores the complicated dynamics of social class, female bonds and family expectations. In alternating points of view, the novel follows Parul and Mohini through their early lives and coming of age. The two young women grow up under the same roof, but live very different lives. Parul was six years old when her desperately poor father brought her from their village to live with the Sens, a middle-class Hindu family. Following common customs, Parul was taken in as a servant, asked to hide her Muslim identity, and trained to do household chores alongside Mrs. Sen. By contrast, Mohini, the Sens’ daughter, who is a few years younger than Parul, has led a life of privilege and education.

As Parul grows older, she becomes increasingly unhappy and resentful with her lot in life. Mohini struggles with their relationship as well, never sure whether to treat Parul as a sister or a servant. When Parul has a passionate, secret affair with Rahim, a radical Muslim, the careful order the Sens have maintained is thrown into chaos. Parul must decide where her loyalties lie when Rahim asks her to betray the Sens and endanger a young American man who is staying with them and to whom Mohini is attracted. Parul’s choice will shock the family and determine everyone’s future.

Intensely readable and stirringly original, EVERYTHING HERE BELONGS TO YOU captures the confusion of early adulthood and the search for identity as Parul and Mohini face difficult choices that drive them apart. Both women inherit an unjust system and must choose between obedience and rebellion.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s work has been influential to me, particularly her novel SISTER OF MY HEART, which explores a complicated bond between cousins, one an upper-caste elite and the other a black sheep. Monica Ali’s BRICKLANE has special resonance in its presentation of the moral dilemma of a forbidden affair for an obedient Bengali wife.