The Hometown

Mala Thomas, a 23-year-old Indian American, wants a big, multicultural city to escape her dead-end job and racial experiences in Indiana. She packs up her Acura Vigor and makes an impulsive move to Houston, Texas.

In Houston, she doesnt get questioned about being Indian. The South is very different from the Midwest and Mala cant take the word yall seriously. On her career path, she lands a job in the energy industry and falls for work-obsessed Cyril, a Creole who works in her office building.

The death of the sister she cant remember, her love for 80s rock, and her past racial experiences follow her everywhere she goes.

"What would happen if you were a discontented, twentysomething Indian-American girl, living in a boring Midwestern city and working a dead-end job, still a virgin, living at home with parents you think should divorce, and suddenly decide to pack up and move to Houston, Texas? Read The Hometown and find out! Along the way you'll be entertained and enlightened by this smart and witty coming-of-age novel that gets to the heart of 'growing up multicultural' and making your way as a minority woman in America today." - Jim Barnes, Editor, IndependentPublisher.com

"Finding a new home can lead to many unusual situations. "The Hometown" is a novel following Mala Thomas as she embraces a new spin of life in Houston, Texas and facing life as an Indian-American in the south. A story of career life and finding love, "The Hometown" is worth considering for general fiction collections." - Midwest Book Review

"Author Leena Ceraveenis debut novel, The Hometown, examines the journey of a 23-year-old Indian American woman and her search for love, success, and something beyond the ordinary. The novel provides a witty and colorful illustration of what its like for an Indian American woman to beat the odds and embrace the unexpected." - India West

2011 London Book Festival Runner-Up, General Fiction

2011 DIY Book Festival Runner-Up, General Fiction