Monica Rana
The Paths We Choose
(Penguin India, June 2025)
A coming-of-age story set in rural Nepal.
Nepal, 2001. Up in the hills, the village of Rato Mato is waiting for rain. Rita and Sumnima wait too, for a life different than the one they have known. But as the monsoon clouds start to gather, there are forces unknown gathering about the hills. When the country plunges into civil strife, the two cousins are pulled in opposite directions and swept up in the chaos that ensues. While they struggle to define themselves in a new and unrecognizable reality, there are bigger questions at bay. Will they find their way to each other? Will they find their way to the life they once dreamed of? And will they ever find their way back home?
This is a heart-warming debut about purpose and identity—their loss, search and discovery.
Praise for The Paths We Choose
“An honest portrait of a country in turmoil and the family ties that never break. I couldn’t put it down.” — Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi
“A layered, well-told story and an impressive debut.” — Andaleeb Wajid, author of The Henna Start-Up
Monica Rana grew up in Kathmandu and went to Harvard College before working in banking in London. At Harvard, she took multiple creative writing courses and won a few awards including the Edward Eager grant and the Cyrilly Abels Short Story Prize.