Avni Doshi's second novel examines the horror of relationships

UAE-based Booker-shortlisted author Avni Doshi's highly anticipated second novel, "The First House," delves into the collapse of a marriage and the hidden truths behind it. The story begins with a husband announcing his decision to leave, forcing the wife to piece together what went wrong. Doshi explores how relationships are built on myths, such as the fairy tale of happily ever after, and how marriages can become a refuge from family terrors until they themselves fall apart.

The protagonist is shattered by her husband's sudden departure and questions whether he has found someone else and how their two daughters will cope. Doshi's novel performs a post-mortem on relationships, showing that a broken home is not just one where a man leaves his family, but also one where issues are constantly brushed aside to create makeshift peace. As Doshi says, "Not knowing is a way to survive."

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Doshi explains how the story came to her. Initially, she had an idea about a girl and her controlling family, but other images—like cicadas and a statue of Diana by Augustus Saint-Gaudens—kept intruding. She thought they were separate projects until, while walking outside her astrology teacher's house, she realized they were all part of the same book. Doshi notes that when she starts writing, the book is opaque, and she is drawn toward something without fully understanding it.

Doshi prefers visceral beginnings for her novels. "Burnt Sugar" starts with anger, while "The First House" opens with a scene of conflict. She cites Javier Marías's "A Heart So White" as influential for its gripping start. The author questions whether relationships have ceased to be the psychological safe spaces traditional wisdom suggests, as the protagonist finds agony rather than refuge in marriage, parenting, and family.

The novel interrogates the idea that family equals safety and examines the cost of fitting in. Doshi draws on C.G. Jung's ideas about the danger of the collective and how individuals can be subsumed by the mob mentality. She compares marriage to a Procrustean bed, where parts of oneself are cut off to fit in. The central question is: at what point do we become unrecognizable to ourselves in order to belong to something larger?