Mona Tewari

Mona Tewari lives with her husband, daughters, and dogs in New England. After graduating from the California
Institute of Technology (Caltech) with degrees in biology and philosophy, she completed dental school, residency,
and a master's degree at the University of San Francisco, California. She joined a fantastic pediatric dental
practice where she thought she'd be for a long time, but life had other plans.

When health issues forced her to stop practicing, Mona turned to writing fiction. She has long been fascinated by
the way that narratives of legends and histories create the lens through which we see our legends and histories
and how these views shape our present. Plus, as the daughter of two immigrants from India, Mona didn't see
herself much in popular media while growing up, and she is determined to show her daughters that they belong in
every world.

Burn the Sea is her first novel.

Author's books

Burn The Sea

To protect her homeland, one queen must fight her people’s historic enemy—once and for all.

 

Abbakka Chowta never expected to be queen. The youngest of Ullal’s two rajkumaris, Abbakka has spent years in rigorous combat training to become her sister’s blade. But when the monstrous Porcugi attempt to lay claim to Ullal, Abbakka’s world—and fate—are upended.

 

The Porcugi—giant half-men, half-snakes who attack from the sea—haven’t been seen in Ullal since their failed invasion more than fifty years ago. But now, they’re back with vengeance and a choice: pay their tithes or suffer total devastation. Soon, Abbakka’s definitions of strength, subterfuge, and statecraft are put to the test.

 

Will marriage to a neighboring king give her the resources she needs to protect her people . . . or will she watch her homeland be crushed beneath the waves of would-be colonizers?

 

A lush historical fantasy that reimagines the Portuguese attacks on South India in the 1500s and the fierce real-life queen’s story, Burn the Sea is an electrifying exaltation of female power and the value of freedom.