Lini Kadaba (MSJ86)

Can you ever make peace with a fractured past? When Neena’s mother utters her final, shocking word before dying, Neena is left reeling. Now, faced with the daunting task of cleaning out her parents’ Philly-area condo, Neena begins to sift through boxes of belongings, each item stirring memories and long-buried tensions and forcing her to confront not just her broken bond with her mother—and a family secret—but the ways history repeats itself.

Leftovers After Life explores how we reckon with the past to reclaim the present. In uncovering what’s been packed away, physically and emotionally, Neena must decide what to keep, what to discard, and whether it’s ever really possible to make peace with the ones who raised us.

Midwest Book Review called Leftovers After Life “original, lyrical, carefully crafted” and “written with an eloquence and style that lifts [the] novel to an impressive level of literary excellence.”

Kadaba is a long-time journalist. She worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for nearly 25 years, and since 2010, has freelanced for a variety of publications. Leftovers After Life is her first novel. She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and has a son.