University of Minnesota grad Asha Thanki's debut novel is epic mystical 'A Thousand Time Before'

Publishing is awash in barely distinguishable novels featuring characters who have unhealthy relationships with their phones. Asha Thanki, to her credit, can't be accused of contributing to this surplus. Her characters have more important things to do than search stranger's Instagram feeds. Thanki's first book, "A Thousand Times Before," is a sweeping, emotionally powerful tale set against a backdrop of geopolitical strife, a novel about nothing less than self-determination, national identity and ancestral traumas. The story, which plays out in South Asia, Minneapolis and New York, features three generations of...