Mira Jacob Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Mira Jacob is a renowned American writer, who likes to write fiction stories. She is particularly famous for her debut novel called The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing. This book revolves around a patriarch who gets acquainted with ghosts and starts talking to them. His newly acquired habit of seeing spirits begins to affect his family and brings many twists & turns in the story. Author Jacob was born and brought up in New Mexico. She used to live in a community where there were very less East Indians. And because of her colored skin, she was assumed to be a Native American by her neighbors. In an interview given to Kirkus, Jacob told that the people around her used to think her family belonged to the Apache or Hopi or Mexican race.

Jacob’s parents had an arranged marriage, but they fell in love with each other when Jacob had grown 20 years old. This was revealed and described by her in an essay that she wrote for Vogue. Jacob also explained that because of the renewed relationship of her parents, she was able to have the freedom of forming a romantic relationship with Jed Rothstein, a filmmaker by profession. The two even got married later. As of today, author Jacob resides in Brooklyn. She has a son with her husband Rothstein. Jacob likes to spend all her time in the company of her loving family. Most of the times, she is busy with her writing projects and whatever time she gets from her busy schedule, Jacob likes to spend them with her husband and son. Prior to the beginning of her literary career, author Jacob obtained an MFA from the New School of Social Research. She used all her experience of life and expertise in writing her first book. It took her a total of ten years to finish the writing part of the book.

While Jacob was in the course of writing the book, she lost her father due to a long-running health issue. Following the death of her father, she started writing the later part of the story with the dad’s character by keeping in mind the personality of her own beloved father. In addition to being a reputed novelist, Jacob is also the founder of one Brooklyn’s reading series called Pete’s Reading Series. Jacob worked for 13 years on this reading series and her determination helped to bring nonfiction, poetry, and literary fiction to the sweetest stage of the city. After the release of her first novel, Jacob gained critical acclaim and became a reputed name in the literary world. The book was a new writers’ pick and was shortlisted for the Tata First Literary Award held in India. Besides being labeled as one of 2014’s best books, it was longlisted for the Literary Eagle’s Prize in Brooklyn and was honored by the Librarians Association of Asian Pacific American. The drawings and writings of author Jacob have featured in Vogue, Buzzfeed, the NY Times, the Telegraph, Tin House, Guernica, etc. Jacob has appeared on local and national radio and television shows. She has even taught creative writing to students in Barcelona, New York, and New Mexico. Currently, she is employed as a teacher at The New School and NYU. Author Jacob received the honor of the Emerging Novelist at the Writer’s Center of Hudson Valley in 2014. The U.S. Congress even awarded her a commendation for her contribution to literature. As of now, she is busy with the writing & the drawing part of a new graphic memoir that is set to be released in 2019.

The debut book written by author Mira Jacob is entitled ‘The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing’. It was released by Random House in 2014. This book features the lead characters in the form of Thomas Eapen, Kamala, Akhil, Amina, and several others. Jacob has done the story’s setting in India, New Mexico, and Seattle during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The central theme of the story revolves around a family that wrestles with its past and future and the measures taken by them to make things better in their lives. At the story’s beginning, Thomas Eapen is introduced as a brain surgeon living in New Mexico. He has an Indian wife named Kamala, a son named Akhil, and a daughter named Amina.

Akhil is described as an intellectual boy, while Amina is seen as a watchful daughter. In 1979, he visits India to take care of his mother’s old house. When Thomas decides to cut short his visit due to some personal reasons, a series of unexpected events is set into motion that goes on to haunt him, his wife, and his children, Akhil and Amina. A period of twenty years passes by after that particular incident. Amina turns into a photographer, who is facing a career crisis. When Thomas starts having bizarre and weird conversations with the dead relatives from India, it is Amina who steps up to find out what is going on with her father. However, getting to the bottom of the task turns out to be a much harder task than what it seemed to her initially. Because of the unwillingness of Thomas to talk about what is happening to him, Amina does not know what to do or how to approach the problem at hand. Her mother starts getting old convictions back about her father’s problem, which forces her to take the step of admitting Thomas to a mental hospital.

The doctors examine him from inside out, but do not reveal what the problem actually is. Amina suspects that they know a lot more than what they are telling her. When the situation seems to go out of hand, Amina decides to go through the painful past of her family to find answers to all the questions coming into her mind. She finds herself embroiled in a deep mystery that looks so full of disasters that she is required to unravel the painful secrets of her family’s past to get a solution to this weird problem. The characters and storyline of this book seem engaging. Their depiction is done in a very good way by author Jacob. All the different elements of the book combine to make the story interesting. They provide a sense of humor and warmth to the readers, who feel intrigued till the very end.