Publication Date: June 1, 2024
A woman’s ambitions clash with familial expectations in a captivating novel about generational secrets and self-discovery by the bestselling author of The Candid Life of Meena Dave.
Raised by her mother and grandmother and tutored in the healing wonders of spices, Tulsi Gupta is expected to carry on the ancestral tradition from her family’s Salem spice shop. Restless and reluctant, Tulsi yearns to follow her own path—destiny has other plans.
When Tulsi finds a letter written by her grandmother, addressed and never sent, that speaks of a long-ago betrayal, she decides to unravel the mystery as a distraction. But Tulsi stumbles into much more than she bargained for. With each new discovery, she learns there’s much more to her mother and grandmother than their expertise in the remedial aromas of coriander and cloves. When an attractive neighbor begins renovating the shuttered deli next door, Tulsi finds the courage to break her routine and chase the unexpected.
As Tulsi digs into the past and secrets come to light, she’s determined to heal old family wounds and find her true purpose—and maybe even love—every step of the way.
Namrata Patel poses the conundrum that faces many young people: “Shoul you follow in the footsteps of a family business that has been prepared for you or take a risk to find a different path?” Her novel The Curious Secrets of Yesterday has Tulsi facing this decision.
Tulsi was raised by her single mother and grandmother, which is exactly how her mother was raised. Her grandmother and mother have worked hard building a spice shop to demonstrate a cultural tradition of using spices to enhance the body’s natural healing and to build that business in spite of having no male support. Deep down, the youngest woman knows there is something different in her future, but she tries to accept the expectations of her family. In their Indian household, personal feelings and even life events are considered too personal to share. She would love to know more about how the women in her family have come to the place where they all are now.
When the story begins, she has no one to mull over her feelings or ideas. Then, two characters enter the story, and each changes what was prior, day after day, in the same routine. Skye is a social media influencer who comes upon the shop and sees the potential to bring a wider audience. However, change is particularly difficult for her grandmother, and Tulsi is once again straddling old and new ideas. Lucas, who admittedly isn’t a people person, opens a restaurant next door, and while trying to be neighborly, Tulsi finally finds a confidant—maybe more. Coincidentally, she will need a friend as a long-lying family feud is brought back open. The story is both predictable and yet unique—a comforting read.
In The Curious Secrets of Yesterday, you will find more than a love story or a family drama. You get a peek into the healing properties of Indian spices. 
Namrata Patel is the bestselling author of Scent of a Garden and The Candid Life of Meena Dave. She examines diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans in her writing and explores this dynamic while also touching on the families we’re born with and those we choose. Namrata, who has been writing most of her adult life, has lived in India, New Jersey, Spokane, London, and New York City and currently resides in Boston.
