Ghost Chilli

WINNER OF A COSMOPOLITAN BOOK AWARD FOR MOST RELATABLE READ 2024

'A rich coming-of-age story full of punchy and astute observations about everyday relationships' COSMPOLITAN

'By turns witty, compassionate, and toe-curling. An incredibly astute and propulsive writing of modern relationships, familial, platonic and romantic' SUSANNAH DICKEY

'Ghost Chilli is enjoyably bittersweet, a black comedy that conjures the turbulent twenties in all their isolation and shame' TELEGRAPH

'A kaleidoscopically detailed novel of twenty-first century life, full of human comedy, which finds richness in the quotidian, ephemeral, and overlooked' LUCIE ELVEN

'Exquisite, forensic and tender . . . This book gently bruleed my heart' DOREEN CUNNINGHAM

Muskan has a great life: a creative job in the big city, supportive friends, and no trouble finding first dates. So what if her colleagues don't know she exists, or her friends won't stop lecturing her about the three-year 'situationship' she's in? It's not like she's starving.

But something is wrong, and while the people around her seem to have all the right words, nobody can articulate what they want from each other. As obstacles mount and the easy-going persona Muskan has built starts to crumble, she is forced to face a question that's been quietly burning at the back of her mind: Why did her family move to America so abruptly?

Warm, funny, and sharply observed, Ghost Chilli is a story about trying to find honest relationships in an isolating world, and the weight we unwittingly carry.

A rich coming-of-age story full of punchy and astute observations about everyday relationships Cosmopolitan, Most Relatable Read Award
A kaleidoscopically detailed novel of twenty-first century life, full of human comedy, which finds richness in the quotidian, ephemeral, and overlooked. Both deeply moving and wonderful company -- Lucie Elven
Nikkitha Bakshani's debut novel is by turns witty, compassionate, and toe-curling. An incredibly astute and propulsive writing of modern relationships, familial, platonic and romantic, Ghost Chilli depicts with honesty and humour the gulf between what we actually say, and what we'd like to, and the shadow our history casts over how we want to be. -- Susannah Dickey
Exquisite, forensic and tender. Muskan is a heroine like no other, a connoisseur of appetites, self and how we survive each other. This book gently brûléed my heart -- Doreen Cunningham
Ghost Chilli is enjoyably bittersweet, a black comedy that conjures the turbulent twenties in all their isolation and shame Telegraph

Nikkitha Bakshani is an American writer based in London. Before getting an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths, she was an editor at New York-based publication Food52. She has also worked at the Paris Review, Departures, the Village Voice, and The Week. She's been a Contributing Editor to The Morning News since 2013. Her writing has appeared online at all the aforementioned publications as well as Eater, The Baffler, Vice, and more.

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