Call Her FreedomAuthor Reflects on the Long Road to Publication: 'How Could I Fail to Shine the Light on Injustice?' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tara Dorabji and ‘Call Her Freedom’.Photo:Simon & Schuster; Sheila Menezes

Simon & Schuster; Sheila Menezes

After over a decade of rejection, I landed a dream book deal, winningSimon & Schuster’s Books Like Us contestto publish my novel.Call Her Freedomfollows one woman’s journey to protect her family in a fictionalized land that draws from Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Simon & Schuster

Tara Dorabji in Kashmir.Courtesy Tara Dorabji

Courtesy Tara Dorabji

In Kashmir, there were soldiers on every corner, checkpoints entering and leaving Srinagar’s airport. I was welcomed into homes, balling rice with curry, sharing freshly brewed kahwa, making lifelong friends. My journalist friend told me, “Kashmir is the most dangerous place on earth and that’s why you fall in love with it.” A young woman shared her story of her father disappearing and how she fought to bring his case to the highest court.

These stories and experiences became the core ofCall Her Freedom. After a couple of years of revision, I had four agents reading my work. Publication felt inevitable. The responses came in: an email while riding on the bus or in line at a grocery store. “I didn’t fall in love with it.” My art was unlovable. There’s no formula for love. This was chemistry. I could land a first date, but nobody wanted a relationship.

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Dorabji’s twin daughters during their Kashmir trip.Courtesy Tara Dorabji

But how could I abandon the stories inCall Her Freedom?Disappeared husbands and fathers. Land mines exploding. Murdered sons and girlfriends. Even the most intimate conversations being recorded. One of the women who entrusted me with her stories said that it gave her hope that people in other places in the world knew of her story. How could I fail to shine the light on injustice?

I was simultaneously editing three different sections when I received an email from Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us contest:Congratulations! You are a semi-finalist. You have 6 days to deliver your manuscript.When I reached the end of the story, something moved through me, almost as if the novel now lived outside of me —Call Her Freedomwas ready to be born.

From left: Tara Dorabji, Faith Adiele, Susan Ito and Elmaz Abinader, the author’s writer group.Courtesy Tara Dorabji

For three contest finalists, the last step was a zoom interview, which I did at my kitchen table, the center of life in our home and the best lit spot. I was terrified. I had to talk, sell, pitch, market myself. My work. And then I remembered my purpose, and the power of sharing stories that are often silenced.

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A few days after the winner was supposed to be announced, I sat on my couch, scrolling through my phone. A new message from Simon & Schuster popped up. I clicked it, scanning for pivotal words:Congratulations!You are the Grand Prize Winner!I laughed, cried and called my kids. Relief, joy and gratitude flooded my body.

Simon & Schuster supported me in matching me with an agent and an incredible editor, Olivia Taylor Smith, who challenged me to embrace complexity and let the heart of the novel beat on the page.

HavingCall Her Freedompublished the week of the inauguration is significant — I started this story exploring how people live in freedom when their rights are eroded. Gifted with the wisdom from people living in Kashmir about resilience and the role of culture in sovereignty, I hope thatCall Her Freedomcreates healing tributaries that allow us to create a different future — one rooted in human kindness and love.

Call Her Freedomcomes out Jan. 21 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com