About the Book: Set across Asia during the brutal peak of the Delta wave, The Pretenders is a novel about the desperate search for love, freedom, and human connection in the bleakest of times. The story interweaves multiple lives shattered by the sickness: In Delhi, the privileged Shamsher Singh (Sammy) is forced to confront the insecurities of his past as he watches a man struggle to cremate a corpse with dignity. Meanwhile, in Beijing, Mei navigates her stepfather’s demands and her long-distance relationship with Sammy’s nephew, Farid. Further connecting this world are Changez Khan, who finds kindness amid his intolerable guilt in Bangkok, and Nina, Mei’s mother, who battles isolation in Jakarta. As death looms closer, the pandemic rips open the surface of their lives, exposing lies and unraveling deceptions, forcing everyone—from masters to servants, the privileged to the predators—to confront the truth of what it means to be human.