New writers seem to be bursting onto the scene every week. You can add Sarah Adlakha to this list with her memorable debut novel, SHE WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING. Creative Writing 101 teaches you to write what you know, and Adlakha follows these instructions to the letter. She is a practicing psychiatrist, just like her main character, Maria Forssmann.

I am always intrigued by the famous quotes that authors select to open their novels. This book features a great one, and it will become quite prophetic based on the action to come: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. If you are looking for a novel that will make you think, feel and experience along with the protagonist every single emotion and spiritual dilemma, then you've come to the right place.

"Adlakha has penned a novel that will make you feel deeply about every decision that Maria makes. Plus, the epilogue will leave you feeling the same chills that ran down my spine --- in a good way!"

Thirty-nine-year-old Maria is married to Will. They have two daughters, and she is pregnant with their first son, but that does not prevent her from attending to the duties at her successful psychiatry practice. Still, nothing will prepare her for Sylvia, a new patient who behaves and speaks bizarrely and acts like she knows everything about Maria, almost as if she has appeared from the future and is here to pass on a message. She warns the good doctor to stay away from Rachel, the receptionist who has been recovering from losing her only child to crib death.

Maria is alarmed when the police reach out with news that Sylvia died by suicide that very night and left a note for her that they are holding as evidence. She is even more taken aback when Detective Walt Andrews ends their discussion by guessing correctly that the name of her unborn son will be Blaise. She and Will have not shared that information with anyone.

At this point I suggest you buckle up, because this is just the beginning of a wild, existential ride that will get more and more bizarre with each passing chapter. We also are introduced to a woman named Jenny from Louisiana. Her husband, Hank, works on an offshore oil rig, and they are expecting a child. We will soon find out who Jenny is and what role she plays in the story.

It is now time to go firmly down the rabbit hole as the second part of the book opens with Maria waking up to a place that looks and smells familiar. She has returned to her 17-year-old body, but this is not a dream. She is living with her 39-year-old consciousness in this earlier version of herself and keeps going back to her session with Sylvia when they spoke about having a purpose in life. Maria needs to find out why she has been sent back.

There are parts of SHE WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING that are so wild you will need a scorecard to figure out who is from what reality and what their individual purposes are. All I can say is that Sarah Adlakha has penned a novel that will make you feel deeply about every decision that Maria makes. Plus, the epilogue will leave you feeling the same chills that ran down my spine --- in a good way!