Archive · 20 Sep 2026
Three debut novels explore tradwife fantasy, migration, and colonialism
These are three new novels by Indian or Indian-origin writers.
Yesteryear is about a woman who pretends to be a traditional wife online to attract attention and make money.
Her online image eventually traps her in the year 1855.
The story shows that pretending inequality is a choice can hurt women, men, and children.
You Envy the Coutinhos follows Joachim, who moves from Mangalore to Bahrain for a safer job.
He pretends to be more successful and happier than he really is.
The Imitation Englishman follows Madhusudan, an Indian clerk who travels abroad to study law during World War I. His experiences make him question the cost of copying colonial ideas and choosing a political cause.
Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear follows influencer Natalie Heller Mills as her staged tradwife persona becomes reality in 1855.
Yesteryear critiques the sale of female subservience as choice, though its writing and historical sections are uneven.
Michelle D’Costa’s You Envy the Coutinhos portrays a Gulf family’s hidden insecurity behind the appearance of migrant success.
Devki Pande’s The Imitation Englishman follows Indian law student Madhusudan Joshi through World War I-era colonial upheaval.
All three novels received a “Hit” verdict for exploring identity, family, migration, assimilation, and power.
- Who
- Writers Caro Claire Burke, Michelle D’Costa, and Devki Pande, whose debut novels are reviewed.
- What
- A Quick Verdict review of three debut novels about the tradwife fantasy, migrant life, and colonial assimilation.
- When
- The books are featured in this week’s edition of the fortnightly Quick Verdict column; no publication date is provided.
- Where
- The novels range across a fictional 1855, Bahrain, Mangalore, India, Heidelberg, San Francisco, and London.
- Why
- The column evaluates whether each debut novel succeeds while examining social expectations, migration, identity, and colonialism.
- Column
- Quick Verdict, a fortnightly book-review column
- Books reviewed
- Yesteryear; You Envy the Coutinhos; The Imitation Englishman
- Verdict
- All three novels are rated “Hit”
- Yesteryear setting
- The story moves to 1855 after its protagonist embraces the traditional-wife fantasy
- You Envy the Coutinhos setting
- The novel largely takes place in Bahrain and follows a family connected to Mangalore
- The Imitation Englishman setting
- The historical fiction is set during World War I and includes Heidelberg, San Francisco, and London
- Central themes
- Gender roles, migrant success, family, identity, colonialism, and assimilation