The Letters We Keep: A Novel

by Nisha Sharma

Overview

Two students—worlds apart—unite to solve the mystery of a legendary decades-old love story gone tragically wrong in a captivating romance by the award-winning author of The Karma Map and Dating Dr. Dil.

It doesn’t take long for ambitious freshman and aspiring engineer Jessie Ahuja to learn about two university legends. One is the haunted history of Davidson Tower, where more than fifty years ago, two ill-fated lovers disappeared in a devastating fire. The other is Ravi Kumar, a privileged billionaire nepo baby who’s aggravatingly charming and occupying more brain space than Jessie has room for. Things change when a campus prank locks them both in the old tower’s ghostly library.

There, Jessie finds letters from the fabled lost lovers, forgotten in a hollowed-out copy of Persuasion. One by one, the letters suck Jessie and Ravi into a beguiling mystery and an achingly beautiful long-ago romance destined to go up in flames. It’s also drawing Jessie and Ravi—every bit as star-crossed—closer together. Can they overcome whatever fate has in store for them? Or are they just as doomed as the young lovers whose tragic end has become legend?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662500749
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2024
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Nisha Sharma is the award-winning author of The Karma Map, Dating Dr. Dil, and other adult contemporary and YA romances. Her books have appeared in best-of lists by the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, and more. Nisha lives in Pennsylvania with her Alaskan husband; her cat, Lizzie Bennett; and her dogs, Nancey Drew and Madeline. For more information, visit www.nisha-sharma.com.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2024

A present-day enemies-to-lovers romance starring two Desi college students from different economic backgrounds develops alongside a 1970s story of star-crossed lovers in this swoony tale by Sharma (The Karma Map). When aspiring engineer Jessie Ahuja meets handsome Ravi Kumar, the son of a wealthy tech mogul, she instantly hates him for his arrogance and vaping habit; their rivalry for the same university study nook soon escalates from minor inconvenience to proverbial war. After his fraternity brothers prank Jessie, locking her in the campus tower that’s purported to have been haunted since two students died in a 1972 fire, he breaks in to free her. Inside the tower, they find hidden love letters that seem to be written by one of the presumed-dead students from decades before. Jessie and Ravi begin reading the correspondence together, unraveling a 50-year-old mystery about a love affair with disturbing parallels to their own dynamic, prompting Jessie to wonder if she and Ravi’s relationship will follow the same fate. Though the alignment of the past and present story lines can feel forced, sharp banter and steamy intimate scenes make the easy chemistry between the romantic leads sparkle. Ages 15–up. Agent: Joy Tutela, David Black Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

This pleasant romance underscores the challenges of immigration, both historically and currently. The pressures of South Asian parents and their aspirations and the contrasting hopes of their children are beautifully developed, alongside the mixing of different languages in the narrative… An easy, effortlessly enjoyable read.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An original, fascinating and fun read from start to finish… a deftly written and unreservedly recommended reading…” —Midwest Book Review

“The novel delves into the South Asian diaspora experience in higher education, the clash of social classes, and the loss of important cultural stories and history.” —Booklist

“[S]harp banter and steamy intimate scenes make the easy chemistry between the romantic leads sparkle.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for Nisha Sharma’s The Karma Map

“A heartwarming story about personal growth.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Sharma smartly interlocks…classic road-trip novel tropes, capitalizing on the inherent freedom of self-discovery while navigating familial traditions and expectations…[and] issues of class, identity, and spirituality.” —Publishers Weekly

“The book wrestles with the spirituality and ritualistic nature of Hinduism and centers the struggles of being a not-here-nor-there diasporic teen.” —Teen Vogue

From the Publisher

2024-02-17
Two worlds and timelines intersect in this story centering on South Asian American college students in New Jersey.

The story opens with “Dear Jaan,” the first line of a letter from 1972 that’s a beckoning to romance—a romance that rumor says ended in flames in Hartceller University’s Davidson Tower. Cut to the present day: Jessie Ahuja is at Hartceller, studying hard to become an engineer. She refuses to be distracted by the extremely rich and attractive Ravi Kumar, who insists on walking her home and battling over study room reservations. Jessie’s worked hard to get good grades and stay steadfastly committed to her career track; to her, tech industry heir Ravi is the ultimate nepo baby. Fate, however, has other plans: When Jessie and Ravi discover a bunch of letters from the two fabled lovers, they feel compelled to team up to solve the mystery of Davidson Tower’s haunted history. As they unravel the real story, they find themselves on a similar will-they-won’t-they trajectory. This pleasant romance underscores the challenges of immigration, both historically and currently. The pressures of South Asian parents and their aspirations and the contrasting hopes of their children are beautifully developed, alongside the mixing of different languages in the narrative. Disappointingly, the historic love letters feel a bit insipid, even though they stitch the narrative together. But this is truly Jessie’s story, and she’s interesting, complex, and driven.

An easy, effortlessly enjoyable read. (Romance. 16-adult)

Kirkus Reviews