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Lilly Singh endorses Lavanya Lakshmi's debut novel
The author's first novel was selected as the June pick for Lilly's Library.
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 22, Jun 2026
- 14:45 EDT
- 27
Lilly Singh/ Lavanya Lakshmi / Lilly;s Library
Indian origin author Lavanya Lakshmi's debut novel has been selected as the June 2026 pick for Lilly Singh's book club, Lilly's Library, which spotlights South Asian stories.
Released on June 16 in the US and Canada, the novel, Leave and Come Back, follows Simran Gopal as she returns to her estranged family home for the first time in seven years to attend her youngest cousin's wedding.
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Blending romance, family drama and South Asian cultural traditions, the book explores themes of love, grief, reconciliation and the meaning of home.
In a video endorsement for Lilly's Library, Singh praised the novel's portrayal of family relationships and emotional complexity.
"What I love about this book is it really highlights that people are not simple," Singh said. "Sometimes leaving, sometimes going home, it's not that simple. It's complicated, it's messy, it's real."
She added, "Leave and Come Back is out today by Lavanya Lakshmi and I cannot recommend it enough."
The novel is set during a two-week, multi-event Indian wedding attended by nearly 400 guests. Family tensions escalate when Simran's new boyfriend, Leo Bridgers, unexpectedly gate-crashes an engagement celebration and immediately finds himself on the wrong side of Veena, the family's formidable matriarch.
To win her approval, Simran and her cousins launch "Operation DDLJ", a plan inspired by the Bollywood classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Under the scheme, Leo must pretend he has never met Simran and instead become the most helpful and charming wedding guest possible. Lakshmi has said readers familiar with the film may spot several references and easter eggs woven throughout the story.
While the novel incorporates romance and comedy, it also delves into deeper themes as Simran confronts painful memories linked to the death of her parents and the reasons she left home years earlier. Old grievances and family secrets resurface during the wedding celebrations, forcing her to reckon with her past.
Introducing the book, Lakshmi said Indian weddings provided the ideal setting for the story. "A wedding was the perfect setting because they say write what you know and I have been to a lot of weddings," she said. "Indian weddings are not an event you go to, they're an experience that happens to you."
Born in New Delhi, Lakshmi spent her childhood in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong before moving to the United States for higher education. She earned a master's degree from New York University and lived in New York City for nine years before relocating to Toronto, where she currently resides.
Lakshmi has worked in the publishing industry for 13 years and serves on the board of directors of the Festival of Literary Diversity. Having lived in nine cities across India, China, the United States and Canada, she has said one of her childhood homes was a suite on the 37th floor of a luxury hotel.
Leave and Come Back is Lakshmi's first novel. The novel has received early recognition as an Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Romance and was included in Indigo's Best 100 Books of the Year So Far list.
It has also drawn praise from author Hannah Bonam-Young, who described it as "a phenomenal debut" and said readers should "prepare to fall in love with the entire cast of characters while Lakshmi expertly weaves humor, heart, and tenderness onto every page."
Following its June 16 release in the US and Canada, the novel is scheduled to be published in the United Kingdom on July 2.
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