#Merky Books Jyoti Patel 'The Things That We Lost'

Winner of the #Merky Books New Writers Prize 
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‘Brilliant.’ Candice Brathwaite 
‘Incredible.’  Guz Khan
'Effortlessly Weaving intricate intergenerational stories across time, Jyoti has written a poignant funny debut.’Christian Adofo, author of A Quick Ting on #Afrobeats

​This moving coming of age story explores what it means to be a person of colour in Britain today, discussing themes of identity and the stories that we tell ourselves to manage trauma.

Nik yearns to know more about his father, who died before he was born. His mother, Avani, held hostage by her guilt surrounding his death, refuses to share any information with her son. Nik is forced to create a fragmented image of his father, pulled together from hushed whispers at family gatherings and photos stolen from his mother’s bedroom.

When his grandfather dies, secrets are revealed, and everything Nik thinks he knows about his father is turned on its head. Nik makes it his mission to discover the truth about his father and the circumstances of his death, uncovering painful truths in the process.

The Things That We Lost is a beautifully tender exploration of family, loss, and the lengths we go to, to protect the ones we love.

Jyoti Patel was born in Paris to British Indian parents and grew up in North West London. She is a graduate of the University of East Anglia’s Prose Fiction MA and winner of the 2021 #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize. Her writing has previously been published as part of We Present's ‘Literally’ series and in the anthology for the 2022 Bristol Short Story Prize, for which she was shortlisted. The Things That We Lost is her debut novel.


#Merky Books
This year we’re excited to launch the third #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, an annual writing competition that is open to young, underrepresented, and unpublished writers from across the UK and ROI. The winner of the New
Writers’ Prize will receive a publishing contract with #Merky Books. The prize will also aim to provide all applicants with the tools, information and access they need to develop their ideas, progress their writing and set off on the path to publication.