A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl
A Novel
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An Apple Books Best Book of March
An Apple Books Favorite Debut for March
A National Bestseller
A Great Group Reads of 2025 from the Women’s National Book Association
Library Journal Best Book of 2025
A girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layers of secrets, until years later when she is forced to reckon with her past.
On an ordinary day in an upscale Atlanta suburb, Maya is making breakfast for her two sons, when her husband drops a letter on the counter and asks a devastating question: Who is Sunny?
As she frantically weighs the impact of the truth on her future, Maya relives the details of her childhood journey to America from Guyana—and the traumatic events that forced her to leave her past behind. Through the eyes of Maya’s innocent and scared younger self, we discover the power of hope, empathy, and the possibility of beginning again.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Reinventing yourself can be therapeutic, but in this haunting debut novel, the past never quite loosens its grip. The life of seemingly happy and settled suburban mom Maya comes crashing down when she gets a letter from her estranged sister addressed to her old nickname, “Sunny,” from when she was an immigrant girl fleeing Guyana. Sunny entered the U.S. illegally, assuming the identity of a deceased teenager. What she thought was an opportunity led to her being put to work as a domestic labourer and suffering both mental and physical abuse. Author Nanda Reddy’s prose is lyrical and unflinching, with sharp contrasts—from the lush landscapes of Guyana to the crushing realities of domestic slavery in Miami—and shifting timelines between Maya’s present and the perilous and painful journey of her childhood. With raw honesty and depth, Reddy deftly captures the weight of survival, the power of resilience, and the fluidity of self. This searing and unforgettable debut is a masterful exploration of identity, bravery, and facing trauma.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Reddy debuts with a powerful story of resilience and reinvention. Maya's suburban Atlanta idyll is exposed as a house of cards when her husband finds a letter in the mail addressed to her as Sunny. In flashbacks, Reddy reveals how in 1985, a 12-year-old Maya, then going by her birth name, Sunny, was smuggled from Guyana to Miami under the name Neena, the deceased daughter of her adoptive parents, Lila and Prem. The couple resent Sunny for the unexpected fees they're charged by the smuggler and force her to work off the debt as a cleaner for the Parkers, a white family. Sunny finds solace with the friendly Parkers until Prem rapes her. Traumatized, she self-medicates with alcohol and drugs, reinventing herself first as Cindy, the name on the ID she found at a club, and then as Synthia, the stage name she takes when she starts stripping. It isn't until she becomes a legal resident that she officially becomes Maya, launches a career as a dental hygienist, and settles down with her husband and children. Reddy capably raises the stakes at every turn, giving readers ample reason to root for Maya by highlighting the desperation behind her ruthless self-reliance. This satisfies.
