Author Feature: Asha Thanki, In Conversation With Saniya Soni

A Thousand Times Before

“A multigenerational tale that travels from the partition of India and Pakistan to the present-day United States, this sweeping, moving saga follows the women in one magical family. They have the ability to access their ancestors’ memories through an inherited tapestry, a gift that’s both a blessing and a burden.” —People Magazine, Most-Anticipated Summer Books

In this sweeping story of memory and inheritance, a fantastic tapestry binds together the women of one South Asian family, allowing each daughter to relive the experiences of those who came before them. Transporting readers from Partition-era India to modern-day Brooklyn, the novel is a tender exploration of girlhood and queerness, as well as the dual gift and burden of heritage. Named a best book of summer by People Magazine and Real Simple and praised by Celeste Ng, Vanessa Chan, V.V. Ganeshananthan, and more, A THOUSAND TIMES BEFORE is one of the must-read debuts of 2024.

Asha Thanki is an essayist and fiction writer. Asha’s work has appeared in The Southern Review, Platypus Press’ wildness, The Common, Catapult, Hyphen, and more. She is a Kundiman fellow and has received support through scholarships and grants from Sewanee Writers Conference, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Speculative Literature Foundation. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota. A Thousand Times Before is her debut novel.

Saniya Soni is a third year clinical psychology PhD student studying intergenerational trauma within the South Asian diaspora and resistance to racism at UMass Boston. She is also the cohost of Loudmouth Ladkis, a podcast about navigating the South Asian diaspora.

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