Shobha Rao in Conversation with Shane Doyle

Country Bookshelf is excited to welcome Shobha Rao in conversation with Shane Doyle to discuss her new novel, Indian Country, on November 17 at 6pm.

Tickets are not required for this event, but RSVPs are appreciated. Please get a FREE general admission ticket by selecting "Get Tickets" at the bottom of this page.

Books can be purchased at the event or ordered in advance on our website or by calling Country Bookshelf at (406) 587-0166 during our regular business hours.

The event at a glance:

• On November 17, please arrive early to secure your seat. Seating is general admission, first come, first served.
• At 6:00pm, the event program featuring Shobha Rao and Shane Doyle will begin. The author will take audience questions following the program.
• After the talk, Shobha Rao will sign books.
• Can't attend in person? Order a signed copy of Indian Country on our website or by calling (406) 587-0166. Signing requests will need to be placed 24 hours before the event.

About Indian Country

Janavi and Sagar were never meant to end up married. Janavi is a wonderfully independent, young modern Indian woman. She works for an organization that helps street children, often lost to the world of poverty and human trafficking. Sagar is a trained hydraulic engineer, an expert in dam construction. He is the least favorite son, his parents never able to forgive him for an unspeakable act from his past. Sagar seeks refuge in his daydreams of one day finding hidden treasures in the fabled Indian river, the Ganges.

Yet the two are forced together into an arranged marriage which neither of them wants. Even worse, Sagar has already accepted a job in America, in a strange place called Montana, where he will be in charge of dismantling a dam.

Montana upends all their expectations. Sagar's white colleagues do not welcome him with open arms, and Janavi finds herself unable to forgive her sister back in India, whose betrayal led her to this marriage and this strange place.

When a colleague of Sagar's is found drowned, Sagar is the obvious scapegoat. But is this death one in a long history of people of color paying the price for the white man's arrogance and expansionism?

Just like the Ganges river that dominates Sagar's dreams, throughout the novel run short historical stories of settlers who conquered both the west and India, and who form the foundation upon which Sagar and Janavi stand.

A bold, ambitious, stunningly beautiful yet brutal novel about colonialism, westward expansion, and the ramifications of both still rippling out today, Indian Country is a tour de force modern-day classic.

About Shobha Rao

Shobha Rao moved to the United States from India at the age of seven. She is the author of the short story collection, An Unrestored Woman, and the novel, Girls Burn Brighter. Rao is the winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Fiction and was a Grace Paley Teaching Fellow at The New School. Her story “Kavitha and Mustafa” was chosen by T.C. Boyle for inclusion in Best American Short Stories. Girls Burn Brighter was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was a finalist for the California Book Award and the Goodreads Choice Awards. She lives in San Francisco.

About Shane Doyle

Dr. Shane Doyle is a Montana-based scholar, teacher, and community advocate whose work focuses on the history and heritage of Native American tribes of the Northern Great Plains. Shane is an enrolled member of the Apsáalooke Nation (also known as the Crow Tribe), and he holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University. Shane grew up in Crow Agency and he has built his career around making Native American history a cultural mainstay in everything from Montana’s educational system to governmental land management decisions. Whether designing educational curriculums, making films, or singing Northern Plains tribal music, Shane is always focused on serving his community.

Accessibility Information:

• The event will take place on the first floor of Country Bookshelf.

• All doorways have a width greater than 32 inches with the narrowest being our front door at 35 inches.

• The speakers will be using a microphone at this event.

• Please email staff@countrybookshelf.com if you have any specific accessibility needs and we will do our best to serve you!

• Do you or someone you know provide ASL interpretation? Country Bookshelf is seeking an interpreter to call on for future events. Please send information to staff@countrybookshelf.com if there is interest!