Allie Nava was inspired to write July and Everything After after she survived the violent anti-minority massacres of 1970s Sri Lanka. It is a story of healing now on tour with WOW! Women on Writing. Allie has also written a guest post for us titled: “Being Overlooked or Ignored.” Her thoughts are very meaningful.
Here’s Allie:
Being Overlooked or Ignored
by Allie Nava
Who hasn’t experienced the feeling of being overlooked or ignored at some point in his or her life? It’s a rite of passage for many during adolescence, while a significant experience for others. It’s also at times a central or secondary subject in novels, especially for certain character archetypes.
Think about the ugly duckling children’s story by Hans Christian Andersen, as an example. A duckling born into a family is rejected for being different. After a life of rejection and wandering from one home to another, the duckling prepares to die, only to find it accepted by a group of swans. As it turns out, the duckling was a beautiful swan all along.
My novel July and Everything After is inspired by the personal and transformative journeys that individuals would have experienced as a result of a tragic historic event called Black July. This book focuses on the journey of an American woman in particular who gets caught up in these tragic events, which then surface other personal challenges for her when back in America, including grappling with her own sense of self-worth.
Modern times are rife with advice for dealing with these types of experiences. Ancient wisdom also is rich with advice on handling such life experiences, and the foundation upon which a great deal of modern advice is based.
For example, according to Stoic wisdom, being overlooked or ignored should not significantly affect your inner peace, as your worth and value are not defined by external validation. Instead, it advocates focusing on one’s own actions, virtue, and inner state, recognizing that others’ perceptions are beyond one’s control.
And according to Eastern wisdom, found in Vedanta or Buddhism for example, we shouldn’t give too much weight to rejections. A rejection may not be a rejection of a person, but rather can be influenced by a number of other things including the rejector’s own biases.
All of the above enable individuals to become strong people who are not easily shaken by the opinions of others. And “coming of age” stories that focus on the self-awareness and transformation of certain characters, can teach us as much about our common human journeys, as they can about the different perspectives and experiences of those around us.
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Book Summary
Maya’s journey from America to her birth country was meant to be a nostalgic visit. Instead, it became a fight for survival.
On the eve of Maya’s 22nd birthday, civil war breaks out in Sri Lanka. During what will become known as “Black July,” Maya is targeted and attacked in the organized massacres and pogroms against minorities, and she barely escapes the genocidal chaos.
Haunted by the horrors she witnessed, Maya returns to the US and tries to rally a diverse group of allies to help expose the atrocities in her birth country, among them her Norwegian-American best friend, a magnanimous Catholic nun, and a gifted young man from her past.
Bent on justice, Maya isn’t prepared for the unexpected twists and turns and confrontations with a nemesis that will test her resolve. As the war and humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka intensify, so does Maya’s disillusionment, but contact with a mysterious mentor whose wisdom she once ignored holds the key to her future.
Fans of Paolo Coelho, Amy Tan, Vaddey Ratner, and Khaled Hosseini will be captivated by July and Everything After, a modern tale of resilience and transformation against extraordinary odds and war.
Publisher: DartFrog Books (September 16, 2024)
ISBN: 1965253059
ISBN: 978-1965253052
AISN: B0DHFWGP1P
Print length: 238 pages
Purchase a copy of July and Everything After on:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/July-Everything-After-Allie-Nava/dp/1965253059
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/july-and-everything-after-allie-nava/1146300797
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/july-and-everything-after-allie-nava/21817641?ean=9781965253052
You can also add this to your Goodreads reading list
About the Author
Allie Nava is an American writer who survived the violent anti-minority massacres of 1970s Sri Lanka. A former executive and writing advisor, she’s been a board member or advocate for several mission-oriented organizations including Bellevue Literary Review and Golden Seeds. She has been an invited speaker at several ideas festivals, universities, and conferences, an expert panelist for WNYC (The Brian Lehrer Show), and has been recognized for her work by several organizations including Amazon, Harvard, and Asia Society. She is a member of The Authors Guild.
You can follow the author at:
Newsletter: https://alliestories8.substack.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliestories8
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliestories8
Website: https://www.AllieNava.com
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