Louisiana Catch
by Sweta Srivastava Vikram
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Pub Date Apr 10 2018 | Archive Date Jul 31 2018
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Description
Louisiana Catch is a book about a grieving daughter and sexual abuse survivor from New Delhi who must summon the courage to run a feminist conference in New Orleans, trust a man she meets over the internet, and unravel the mystery of an online predator in order to find her power.
SYNOPSIS: “Ahana, a wealthy thirty-three-year-old New Delhi woman, flees the pain of her mother’s death and her dark past by accepting a huge project in New Orleans, where she’ll coordinate the Annual Women's Conference to raise awareness around violence against women. Her half-Indian, half-Irish colleague and public relations guru, Rohan Brady, who helps Ahana develop her online presence, offends her prim sensibilities with his raunchy humor. She is convinced that he’s a womanizer. Meanwhile, she seeks relief from her pain in an online support group, where she makes a good friend: the mercurial Jay Dubois, who is also grieving the loss of his mother. Her work in the U.S. and the online medium brings the two men into her life, and Ahana learns that neither is what he seems. With their differing sensibilities on a collision course, Ahana finds herself in a dangerous situation—and she discovers a side of herself that she never realized she had.
Louisiana Catch is an emotionally immersive novel about trust and who we project ourselves to be in the world. It’s a book about Ahana’s unreliable instincts and her ongoing battle to determine whom to place her faith in as she, Rohan, and Jay shed layers of their identities.
As Ahana matures from a victim of domestic sexual abuse into a global feminist leader, she must confront her issues: both with the men in her life and, ultimately, with her own instincts. Whom can she rely on to have her best interests at heart?”
Advance Praise
“Louisiana Catch perfectly captures what it means to be human in a digital world, where support groups meet online, love interests flirt on Twitter, and people get confused with personas. Equal parts tender and playful, moving and hopeful, Vikram’s prose connects us with timeless truths about grief and redemption in a satisfyingly modern way.”
STEPHANIE PATERIK, Managing Editor, Adweek
“Louisiana Catch is a triumph. In Ahana, Sweta Vikram has created an unforgettable character, strong, wise, and deeply human, who’ll inspire a new generation struggling to come to terms with their identity in a world of blurring identities.”
KARAN BAJAJ, New York Times bestselling author,
The Yoga of Max’s Discontent
“In Louisiana Catch, Sweta Vikram brings life to the complex human rights issue of violence against women. Through one woman’s journey to make sense of her past and ultimately heal, Vikram shows us that yoga can reconnect us to ourselves, and that by empowering others, we transform our own lives.”
ZOË LEPAGE, Founder, Exhale to Inhale
"Louisiana Catch is perfectly relevant and lovingly bottom lines the urgency to become involved in the feminist agenda. All the while being a deliciously romantic and hopeful story. Sweta proves, yet again, her ability to illustrate all the nuanced layers of a women's experience and honor her power to create change in the world."
PALLAVI SASTRY, Actress (Blue Bloods)
"Louisiana Catch is a compelling read! I was swept into Ahana's world as she struggles to finds a path forward after a turbulent and violent marriage. Sweta raises an interesting question - are we destined to be defined by our choices? Read and find out for yourselves!"
VANDANA KUMAR, Publisher India Currents Magazine
“A moving, modern story about letting go of the past in order to find true empowerment. As a longtime advocate of women in need, Sweta Vikram doesn’t shy away from difficult topics. Louisiana Catch deals with the complexities of love, loss, history, and home.”
GEORGIA CLARK, author, The Regulars
“Utterly unique, insightful and clever. Enthralling and confronting at the same time, Louisiana Catch draws the reader in, and ultimately provides hope.”
BARBARA BOS, Managing Editor, Women Writer, Women’s Books
“In Louisiana Catch, celebrated author Sweta Vikram reminds us that violence against women should never be acceptable and it’s not the victim’s fault. The sudden loss of a dear one and a divorce from an abusive marriage force Ahana to emerge from her sheltered life and re-build her confidence to organize the largest women’s conference. While she is determined to help other women, she once again faces love and deceit along the way. Will that help her or deter her from sharing her story of abuse with other survivors?”
DR. SHRUTI KAPOOR, Founder and CEO, Sayfty
“A very compelling read! I am in awe of Sweta’s ability to intelligently capture, blend, and integrate pertinent psychological issues that face society today.”
SUNITA PATTANI, psychotherapist, author, and trauma specialist
“This is a powerful story, using the romantic formula to advocate a message the world needs to hear: that it is never all right to abuse women. If you like romances, you’ll enjoy this one. Even if you don’t, you’ll find the story worth reading, for its exciting plot twists, for a look into the culture of India, and above all, for the message it shouts.”
BOB RICH, PhD, author, Anger and Anxiety
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781615993529 |
| PRICE | $21.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Lynda S, Reviewer
Louisiana Catch is the story of a wealthy socialite from Delhi who marries the wrong man. He sadistically abuses her until she divorces him, but then there is the social stigma in Delhi to face of being a divorcee. Then there is a double blow, with the death of her mother and she breaks down. Ahana is a profoundly damaged individual.
She joins an online community to get help in rebuilding her self esteem and her life. The internet presents her with a new challenge through two new encounters. It will take a huge amount of self discovery for her not to repeat the mistakes of her past and not to push away the opportunity for a truly loving relationship on the one hand and not to get ensnared by a new type of abuser on the other.
Louisiana Catch becomes part detective tale, with Ahana becoming determined to track down the perpetrator of a new kind of online verbal predator. But does she really know what she is doing?
As an educated and wealthy woman, Ahana is in a position to do good in the world of causes. She is determined to lobby for those who are too browbeaten to fight back, on a worldwide platform.
This, however, is not the kind of feminist tract that is anti-male: this is a heady tale of romance too. This is a book whose message is simply anti abuse, including those (often women) who blame the woman for her predicament. It is also very life-affirming. The reader is regaled with details of fine, exotic meals and fine wines, as Ahana moved between two continents, sampling the best of the cuisines of both.
This also confronts the reality of an India where sexual harassment of women is endemic. In the States there is a growing awareness of how to recognise red flags for a serial abuser, so a self-help point of view, it's all good, this kind of publication.
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