Description
Book SynopsisTesya has reasons to feel hopeful after leaving her last job, where she was subjected to a series of anonymous hate crimes. Now she is back home in London to start a new lecturing position, and has begun an exciting, if tumultuous, love affair with the enigmatic Holly. But this idyllic new start quickly sours.
Tesya finds herself victimized again at work by an unknown assailant, who subjects her to an insidious, sustained race hate crime. As her paranoia mounts, Tesya finds herself yearning for the most elemental desires: love, acceptance, and sanctuary. Her assailant, meanwhile, is recording his manifesto, and plotting his next steps.
Inspired by the author’s personal experiences of hate crime and bookended with essays which contextualise the story within a lifetime of microaggressions, Lessons in Love and Other Crimes is a heart-breaking, hopeful, and compulsively readable novel about the most quotidian of crimes.
Trade Review69 new books by Black and POC authors out in 2021
‘Centred on the fall-out of a race crime, this multi-layered literary debut is an occasionally heartbreaking read, and a story you won’t be able to get of your head.’
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/g35042485/best-books-black-poc-authors-2021/?slide=58
-- Layla Haidrani * Cosmopolitan UK *
‘Believe me, this book is going to shake things up for all those who read it.’
-- Katherine Lit Adventures (@every.atom.reads) * Instagram *
‘Texting’s Not Touching’
https://visualverse.org/?ct=t%28EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_9_2019_14_42_COPY_02%29&mc_cid=21ed854bec&mc_eid=b0353fd57e
-- Elizabeth Chakrabarty * Visual Verse *
‘Books to read in 2021’
‘Elizabeth Chakrabarty’s Lessons in Love and Other Crimes which immediately grabbed my attention. I love how it is bookended with essays which contextualise the story – about Tesya who leaves her job after being subjected to a hate crime.’
https://theasianwriter.co.uk/2021/02/08/books-to-read-in-2021/
-- Farhana Smith * The Asian Writier *
‘Chakrabarty’s story is so stark that no reader could turn away, like so many of us turn away from or dismiss issues that do not directly affect us.’
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-- Juliano Zaffino * Twitter *
Lessons in Love and Other Crimes by Elizabeth Chakrabarty
‘Lessons in Love and Other Crimes is a gripping read, with rich characters, compelling prose, and a riveting plot. But it is also so much more. On each page, it encourages us to consider the inarguable reality of racism.’
https://lunate.co.uk/reviews/lessons-in-love-and-other-crimes-by-elizabeth-chakrabarty
-- Mariah Feria * Lunate *
‘It's a scintillating, beguiling and eye-opening read and without a doubt my favourite book of 2021.’
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3933330672
-- Lou * Goodreads *
Lessons in Love and Other Crimes by Elizabeth Chakrabarty, review: an innovative hybrid novel
‘a multi-layered and thought-provoking work’
https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/lessons-in-love-and-other-crimes-review-innovative-novel-motives-impact-hate-crime-967894
-- Alys Keys * The i *
Review: Lessons in Love and Other Crimes
‘A surprising combination of charming romance and tense criminal investigation to narrow down a predator, these two genres put into play by Chakrabarty have a somewhat abrasive relationship with each other throughout the text, but their opposing forces are a perfect pairing.’
https://dura-dundee.org.uk/2021/05/25/lessons-in-love-and-other-crimes/
-- Mhari Aitchison * Dundee University Review of the Arts *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: An Autobiography of Love and Racism Digression: How to Write About the Trauma of Racism 1 · Love in the Dark 2 · First Impressions 3 · Time's Wingèd Chariot 4 · Coffee and Other Drinks 5 · Shadows 6 · Blemishes 7 · What is Crime? 8 · Equivocation 9 · Synchronicity and Naming 10 · What is Love? 11 · Presence 12 · Futility and Guilt 13 · The Death Drive 14 · Coincidence and Coexistence 15 · Valentine's Day 16 · Familiarity and Fear 17 · Another Lesson, and Another Ending Epilogue: The Killing of a Once Sacred Institution
