One might be tempted to look at the cover of THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MIRA and think that Sonali Dev's latest novel is a rom-com. While there is plenty of romance in this very touching story that spans generations, states, continents, cultures and social status, there are also quite a few situations that force us to examine our own prejudices and misconceptions. Even in how we express ourselves, we often reveal our inner, often very unintentional microaggressions.

Mira Salvi is a lovely young woman of Indian descent. By Indian standards (her parents’ standards), she isn't really that young anymore. But she (finally) has gotten engaged to a perfectly wonderful man, Druv, and they are planning a huge Indian wedding --- four days, multiple wedding dresses, the whole shebang. Her conservative parents have worked hard for their success, and Mira didn't grow up privileged like the other Indian kids her age in her Chicago suburb. They have instilled in Mira the "rules" that she must behave, be perfect, and be the good Indian girl so she doesn’t embarrass them. Mira has always complied, except once when the results were disastrous.

"The many pieces of the story come together perfectly at the end, satisfying our desire for a happily-ever-after and for wrongs to be righted. Not all of those wrongs are righted, but we'll take what we can get."

But as much as Mira knows that she is lucky to have Druv, she holds back. She is still living with her parents, while her twin brother, Rumi, is in New York; they haven’t seen or talked to each other in a long time. There also is a thinly veiled reference to something that happened to Mira in high school, and she hasn't shared anything personal with Druv, including her very mixed feelings about her parents and her brother. They have planned their engagement-moon, a kind of engagement honeymoon, to New York. Druv loves the city and wants to show her all his favorite places.

Mira, on the other hand, loves watching romantic movies. In her mind, she can't wait to visit the Empire State Building where Deborah Kerr planned to meet Cary Grant in An Affair to Remember, and more recently where Meg Ryan decided to meet Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. But Druv can’t make it because of work. He's a doctor, and his partner is injured, so he's needed in the practice. Mira doesn't want to cancel the trip as it's all paid for and nonrefundable. So when Druv suggests that she go alone, she jumps at the opportunity.

Mira also wants to see Rumi and patch things up with him. She can't imagine getting married without her twin by her side, but she has to convince him to come. When Mira arrives in New York, we learn exactly why Rumi is estranged from their parents.

There’s definitely some magic in the air as Mira walks along Times Square toward the Empire State Building. Dev's writing perfectly demonstrates how Mira is feeling and at the same time showcases her love of movies as she muses, "In my head Cary Grant smiles knowingly at me as I hop onto the sidewalk over a manhole…. Meg Ryan tendrils of hair dance around my face as I walk and walk, skipping to dodge the crowds. I can feel it getting closer. My eyes sparkle like Deborah Kerr's when it comes into view. My gaze travels to the very top, where the ornate concrete rises in a steeple and crescendos into the iconic antenna. Christopher Reeve as Superman winks at me as he replants the antenna at the top of the tower." It's all magic to Mira. And then the real magic happens. She finds a ring.

The ring becomes Mira's obsession as she wants to track down the person who lost it and reunite them with their possession. When it turns out that the ring is of Indian design, she is even more determined. This goal drives the rest of the novel. There is beauty and incredible heartbreak as the journey to locate the ring's owner has Mira meeting people who are wonderful and those who represent the worst of closed-minded hateful horrors. She must come to terms with the results of her indecision, her inability to stand up for herself, as she determines what her future will look like.

The many pieces of the story come together perfectly at the end, satisfying our desire for a happily-ever-after and for wrongs to be righted. Not all of those wrongs are righted, but we'll take what we can get.

In this charming and brilliant novel, brimming with difficult truths, it's as if Dev has created a magnificent smoothie out of ingredients that we wouldn't have imagined could work together. Yet all of the situations, the couples and their troubles, blend together to make something more --- something that we enjoy as much as it fortifies our soul.