Submitted by: Anna Siduri

Category: Books

Scaith Donegal is a sassy, uncensored Scottish-American soldier on deployment in Iraq. After narrowly escaping a terrorist attack, she takes leave in New Zealand, but when tragedy strikes again, she finds herself in the remote mountainous jungles of South India.

With an injury and limited communications, she meets local entrepreneur and thrill-seeker, Aryan Visu, who assists in her return to Iraq while seducing her into his world of wild elephants, tea plantations, curry, and the Tamil language. Each narrate their experiences of past heartache, lust, scandal, and self-discovery, finding comfort and familiarity within each other despite being from opposite sides of the world.

About the author:

Anna Siduri was born and raised in Silicon Valley, CA. She wrote her first novel, Vellakari, while quarantined in India for a year during the Covid pandemic. It recounts many real-life inspired experiences while deployed to Iraq, adventures in New Zealand, and her connection with the people inhabiting the deep jungles of South India. After serving ten years in the U.S. Army, she owned an Indian restaurant, managed at several hotel chains, and holds an MBA in Human Resource Management. Though she has a home in the Midwest, and one in South India, she often travels the world alongside her India-born husband in search of more adventures.