Book 01
Never My Father's Daughter
A literary mystery
Never My Father's Daughter is a literary mystery set between Melbourne and northern Sri Lanka — a story of murder, memory, identity, and the secrets families carry across generations.
When Melbourne doctor Aruvi Murugadas is summoned to identify her mother's body after a shocking murder, she is drawn into a past filled with secrets, silence, and loss. As the investigation deepens, long-buried truths emerge about Seetha's life as a Tamil refugee, the brutal legacy of the Sri Lankan civil war, and the hidden past she fought desperately to protect. Aruvi must also confront the devastating truth that she herself was born from an act of wartime violence — a revelation that forces her to question not only her family history, but the very foundations of her identity.
Moving between present-day Melbourne and the coastal town of Valvettithurai in Jaffna, the novel explores how war, silence, and displacement continue to shape the lives of those who survive them. Along the way, Aruvi is forced to confront unsettling questions about family, belonging, forgiveness, and the story of her own identity.
Blending the emotional depth of literary fiction with the suspense of a whodunnit, Never My Father's Daughter is ultimately a story about resilience, reconciliation, and the enduring power of truth.
