"In A Place For People Like Us, Danila Botha brings her characters to life with verve and compassion. Desperate to redefine herself and break from a traumatic past and troubled family, Hannah confronts life-changing decisions in which romantic, religious, moral and material desires clash and intersect. In prose that is bold, warm and fearless, Botha interleaves her insights with a twisty plot that keeps us on the edge of our seats right until the end." – Catherine Bush, author of Skin and Blaze Island

"Like all novels that linger in the heart and mind long after they are read, A Place for People Like Us is a journey. With honesty, nuance, and empathy, Botha shares profound insights into the complexities and complications of identity, belonging, and relationships, perhaps most importantly the one we have with ourselves." – Anita Kushwaha, author of the Secret Lives of Mothers and Daughters

"With this fascinating glimpse into Toronto’s Orthodox Jewish Community, Danila Botha tells the story of Hannah, a woman caught between her boyfriend’s world of tradition and security, and her girlfriend’s wild nonconformity. A gripping tale about love, belonging and betrayal." – Elyse Friedman, award winning author of The Opportunist

"As she prepares to convert to Judaism, Hannah, our protagonist, is so enthralled by Jillian that she ignores this early warning: “She’s the sexiest, most charming person ever, until she decides to fuck up your life.” But how could Hannah –or anyone else, really—resist this “arresting presence, like a tornado quietly building”? The link between these contrasting, complex women grows in intensity and depth as Hannah embarks on a life-changing journey that ultimately reveals the true essence of everyone around her, strips family secrets bare, and forces her to come to terms with both reality and her own self. In these more-righteous-than-thou times that we currently live in, this novel is not only important: it is necessary. John Steinbeck believed that most of our vices are nothing more than “attempted short cuts to love”, and A Place for People Like Us is Danila Botha’s poignant, razor-sharp, and courageous exploration of the lengths that some people are willing to go to satisfy their fundamental human need for acceptance." – Martha Batiz, author of No Stars in the Sky and A Daughter's Place

"Danila Botha lovingly draws a complex and often contradictory portrait of Hannah— as she sees herself: bland and unremarkable; and as others see her: smart, talented and beautiful....Intimate, fast-paced, and full of complex, sympathetic, flawed, not-who-they-seem-to-be characters, A Place for People Like Us catapults the reader from a hip downtown world to a north Toronto Orthodox enclave... Both a love letter to Judaism and a warning about the cult-like trappings that all forms of insularity can take, the novel moves towards an unexpected and shocking ending." – Aviva Rubin, The Seaboard Review of Books

"A Place for People Like Us is a fresh, captivating story about friendship, love, identity, and at its core, the complexities of faith. The relatable and emotionally rich dialogue steer the unflinching narrative, rendering characters that throb with life. Drawn by their shared longing for acceptance, Hannah and Jillian connect with an intensity that forces them to confront the gap between their fake and real selves. At the end, you'll be holding your breath. A remarkable book from a talented writer." – Shelly Sanders, bestselling author of The Night Sparrow

"This book is compulsive and addictive reading. Powerful, passionate, incredibly insightful and sensitive, this is, in my opinion, Danila Botha’s best work to date. As always, she celebrates all the nuances and delights of Toronto, from dingy dive bars to marbled reception halls, sweeping staircases and the height of hallowed luxury. Kudos to Botha’s deft handling of religion. From shady, off-the-grid cult leaders to illuminating insights about Orthodox Judaism, Botha maps the terrain in ways both fascinating and informative, never shying away from exploring the darker undertones of troubled compulsions and the inescapable consequential damage caused. The writing is lush, rich, and textured... The book is a sensual read in so many ways, and it’s also funny. You’ll find yourself chuckling at Hannah’s observations and she doesn’t miss a detail. This book will tug at your heart and leave you pondering the many aspects it explored." – Lisa de Nikolits, author of Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon

"I have long been a fan of Botha's short fiction. She has the ability to create the most beautiful and tightly woven stories that leave visceral impressions long after you read them, so I was incredibly excited to review A Place For People Like Us...Botha’s characters are so real and so familiar and they leap from the page as people you feel you know...Her prose is so sharp and evocative, hitting us on a deep emotional level in one moment, then switching to wry humour in the next in a perfect balance. A Place For People Like Us is a beautifully told story of friendship and betrayal, of chosen family, the search for identity, and the search for love. And in Danila Botha’s more than capable hands, it absolutely soars." – Elizabeth Obermayer

"As she did in her acclaimed short story collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, Botha once again explores the nuances of Jewish identity in her new novel A Place for People like Us. At its core lies the complex relationship between Jillian, a reckless wild child intent on mocking the status quo and the protagonist Hannah—who revels in her friend’s defiant, bad-girl energy even as she secretly yearns for a sense of belonging...the novel kept me guessing with plot twists I didn’t see until the very end. In Botha’s capable hands, A Place for People like Us is a beautifully crafted story of the roads we take—and sometimes reluctantly abandon—in our search for love, identity and a place to call our own." – Diane Bracuk, author of Middle Aged Girls and Boys

"A Place for People Like Us by Danila Botha is a layered narrative about identity and how much each of us is willing to surrender in order to belong. When we first meet Hannah, she is on the fringes of a peer group, but after befriending Jillian, finds herself swept into a consuming and intimate relationship that gives her confidence and feeds her creativity. Later, when she meets and falls in love with the Orthodox Naftali, she explores her Judaic roots and finds deep meaning in many aspects of Judaism. Her newfound faith also provides unexpected healing from childhood trauma in addition to a sense of belonging. Not everything is as it appears, however, and when Jillian begins to unravel, Hannah questions her own life choices. A sensitive and moving exploration written with an assured and fresh voice. Recommended." – Lucy EM Black, author of A Quilting of Scars

- Pitching to local (Toronto) media, bigger Canadian media, Jewish publications, and feminist/women magazines, as well as to relevant awards and festivals across Canada. Reviews have been confirmed in local media, including Seaboard Review of Books (Sept 2025) with more to come.

- Upcoming Interviews with: Toronto Star, Reading Habits with Jean Marc Ah-Sen (Sept 2025), and Open Book (Sept 2025). Podcast interviews including: Shawn Breathes Books, Women Writing with Liisa Kovala, and more. Social media books coverage, including Bookstagram, Book Influencers, etc., personal blogs and blog interviews.

- The author will be joining Guernica's Toronto launch on Sept. 14th and has other launches planned, including an individual launch with Catherine Bush at Flying Books on Sept. 17th, and a Montreal launch at Paragraphe Books with Rebecca Papacaru on Oct. 12th.

- The author will be taking part in a few reading series: Angel Reading Series on Oct. 2nd, Bright Lights, Big City Reading Series on Oct. 19th, Drunk Fiction Reading Series with Russell Smith on Nov. 6th, Flywheel Reading Series in Calgary on Nov. 13th, The Palace Reading Series in New York, 804 Reading Series in DC, with Amber Sparks, Margaret Hutton and Tom McAllister, and others into 2026. There will also be Book signings in independent bookstores in Canada and the US in addition  to readings.

- Goodreads giveaways of signed books in Canada and the US.