An Onslaught of Light

A stunning, authentic debut novel about migration, diaspora and queer identity, from an emerging Indian-Australian writer.

1990: Indu and Vijay leave India for Australia, seeking a better life.  But th move isn't easy on anyone. Not gentle Indu, who becomes even further estranged from her family, nor the ambititous Vijay, who finds himself unmoored in a culture he doesn't understand.  At the centre is Archana, their quiet, sensitive daughter, who forms a shell to survive the bullying of children and the neglect of adults.

2022: Arch lives her ideal life, solitary and isolated.  When her brother calls to say that Vijay is unwell and needs her help, Arch has no choice but to re-enter the world.  To do s means confronting her relationship with her father, her queerness and wounds of her upbringing.  But it also might mean opening herself to the potetial of a life filled with love.

Can Arch do what it takes to let in the light?

An Onslaught of Light

by Natasha Rai

Pantera Press

RRP: $34.99

Natasha Rai is an Indian-Australian woman who was born in India and migrated to Australia with her parents at the age of ten. She lived in the UK for several years as an adult, and the influence of three homes features in her writing. Her work has appeared in Australia's first #MeToo anthology, Enough, Overland, Verity La and StylusLit.