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Interview: Author Sabrina Ramnanan Discusses Her Trinidadian Love Story
Trinidadian Love Story Nothing Like Love Delves Deep into an Indo-Caribbean Community Steeped in Indian Traditions
Author Sabrina Ramnanan's recently released debut novel, Nothing Like Love, is an ode to life in Trinidad in 1974. Sabrina was born in Toronto to Trinidadian parents, and in her novel, she showcases the love story of two individuals who face many twists and unsurmountable odds to be with one another.
I chatted to Sabrina about the release of her debut novel, how the characters she once dreamt of now live in people's imagination and how the writing of Nothing Like Love has helped shape her South Asian identity.
DANIEL PILLAI: Your debut novel, Nothing Like Love, is finally hitting bookshelves. This must be an incredible feeling. Tell me what the journey has been like writing this book and now releasing it for the world to read.
SABRINA RAMANAN: Nothing Like Love started off as a story for myself. It was an attempt to reconnect with my creative side and, for a long time, felt more like an indulgence than an undertaking. But when those first chapters evolved into some semblance of a manuscript; when that partially completed manuscript won the Marina Nemat Award at U of T’s School of Continuing Studies; when Lynn Henry, senior editor at Penguin Random House, showed interest in reading a finished draft, well, then the journey became a thrill. Validated, I worked on Nothing Like Love every chance I got.
Now that Nothing Like Love is out and taking on a life of its own, I am slowly detaching myself to make space for new characters with a different story to tell. It’s strange to think the characters I dreamed up are now unleashing their shenanigans in other people’s minds. But it’s gratifying, too, to know that they live on, that Nothing Like Love lives on independent of me.
DP: You describe being a writer as your dream job. How so? How has your debut novel shaped you as an individual?
SR: Writing is my passion. It is one of the few professions out there that requires hours of rampant daydreaming. I’m good at that. I love the magic of stories; how they take you on journeys, examine the human condition, tilt your world to give you a different perspective. That I was able to make a tiny contribution to the vast collection of stories in this world is an honour and a dream come true.
Writing Nothing Like Love has helped redefine my definition of success. For many years I believed success was measured by wealth and status. Now that I’ve realized my childhood dream — a dream that does not promise riches, fancy titles and is certainly not the most practical career choice — I find that I am happier than I have ever been. Success to me is doing work that feels meaningful and gives me a deep sense of satisfaction.
DP: What I love about your novel is that it tells a "Trinidadian love story." Many people refer to South Asian identities coming from South Asia, but in reality, Trinidad and other countries in the West Indies are part of the South Asian diaspora too. Did you consider this when writing the novel?
SR: In many ways the Indo-Caribbean culture is still deeply steeped in Indian traditions. This is evident in the food I describe and the way Hindu rituals play a significant role in the plot’s unfolding. But I didn’t think much about that as I crafted Nothing Like Love. Instead, I wrote about the Trinidad I’d experienced on holidays, the Trinidad revealed to me in my dad’s back-home stories. It was easier this way, to write what I knew. What I felt in my bones was Trinidad in Chance Village in 1974, rather than try and extricate an identity from a very rich and complex history connected to South Asia.
DP: Nothing Like Love also fleshes out your Trinidadian roots. Being born and raised in Toronto to Trinidadian parents, what is your South Asian identity? How did the process of writing this book shape that?
SR: My South Asian identity is fluid. When I’m enveloped in South Asian culture, for example, on a stroll down Gerrard Street, or in an authentic Indian restaurant, I feel more Indo-Caribbean than South Asian. This stems from being so many generations removed and from having lost the language of our Indian ancestors. But in an environment in which I am the only, or one of very few, brown faces I feel more South Asian, as if in some way I need to represent my Indian forefathers. It’s a dichotomy that I’m still trying to make sense of.
Writing Nothing Like Love has helped me recognize the degree of South Asian influence on the Indo-Caribbean community both in Trinidad and here in Canada. It has also awakened a sense of pride in the little island my parents were born on, an island infused with a myriad of other cultures to create a unique, hybrid identity of its own.
DP: What do you hope to accomplish with Nothing Like Love? What's the message you want readers to take away?
SR: Nothing Like Love addresses some heavy themes in very subtle ways: arranged marriage, gender inequality, coming of age, immigration et cetera, but what I really hope is that the book sweeps readers away to 1974 Trinidad where they can experience the bursting charm, hysterics, and complexities of village life in Chance.
Images courtesy of Penguin Random House
Daniel Pillai
Author
Daniel is the Digital Media Manager for ANOKHI MEDIA and the host for ANOKHI's entertainment channel, PULSE TV. As part of the dream team, Daniel manages all multiple channels under ANOKHI’s portfolio, while also training new on-air talent, and showing budding p...
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