Anuradha D. Rajurkar Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s novel is a literary fiction novelist who is best known for her debut work of fiction “American Betiya.” This is a contemporary young adult novel that won her an Emerging Voices Award by SCBWI.

When she is not reading or writing, Anuradha can usually be found eating baked goods. Knitting sweaters with weird patterns, watching psycho thrillers with her husband and kids, obsessing over her garden, or hiking with her husband.
Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s greatest hope is that her fiction will inspire teenagers to embrace their inner badass and unique identities despite cultural expectations and outside pressures.

She currently makes her home in Wisconsin where she lives with her family.

The author was born to South Asian immigrant parents in the Chicago area where she spent much of her childhood.

Growing up as a teenager and young girl, Anuradha D. Rajurkar loved reading and for the most part, hated that she could not find any stories that reflected her experiences as a South Asian American.
By the time she was 15 years old, she was certain that she was destined to become an author so that she could publish the type of fiction that she wanted to read while she was growing up.

Anuradha would then go on to attend Northwestern University where she earned two degrees. She would then become a public school teacher, which she did for many years.

As a teacher, she used to read stories with her students and saw firsthand how these provided an escape and safe space. Seeing how powerful these stories were only made her more determined to make her dream of writing young adult fiction come alive.
She realized the many expectations placed on young adults who are under too much scrutiny even while their very being is still being constructed.

As such, much of her work is intended to explore that tension and reveal pathways for empowerment and self-discovery.

Unlike most authors who have numerous titles before they publish, American Betiya was the first book she had ever written.

She had the idea for the story ever since she was in high school, even if it had never been fleshed out and only had loose ideas of the topics that would later make the book.

It would take 10 – 15 years of dreaming and thinking about it before she began writing it as a short story. Initially, she was very overwhelmed since she was taking care of two kids just 17 months apart.

She was then trying to survive being a mother and a very recent move to a new city. However, when she showed the manuscript to Laura Fox, her friend, she was so impressed that she asked her to join her writing group.
Her friend suggested that it would be better if she made her story into a novel. Ultimately, she penned a 165,000-word story which would then be published as “American Betiya” in 2021.

Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s novel “American Betiya” tells the story of Rani, an 18-year-old Indian American.

She has just Oliver, a tattoed art student, checking her out and believes that she must have been imagining it as no boys are ever interested in her.

Even though her very conservative immigrant parents have forbidden her from dating, when Oliver asks her out she cannot help but say yes.

She then gets into what can only be described as a perfect high school romance that even Kate, her cynical best friend, believes is good for her.

But as she grows closer to the white boy, his family life starts getting out of control and he starts asking more from her than she can give. He also begins to show troubling racist behavior and attitudes that she just cannot ignore.
In the end, she struggles to balance the demands of her parents and Oliver, even as she tries to stay true to herself.

It is a well-written work full of passion between Oliver and Rani.

Rani has an honest and spirited voice that authentically leads readers through the thrills and challenges of a cross-cultural and teen romance making for an entertaining read.

“Temporary Bodies” by Anuradha D. Rajurkar is a brilliant young adult gothic thriller that tells the story of a young girl seeking a new start in India.

She had moved back to India following the untimely demise of her sister only to find that the abandoned building her parents are turning into a high-end hotel has a dark history.
It has a twisted legacy of colonialism, had been a birthing hospital, and is now the haunt of restless spirits.

It is an all-around thrilling and imaginative work that captures the teenage experiences, as well as cultural and religious lore set in ethereal and beautiful settings of rural India.