Three generations of women grapple with life, love, and what they can’t control. As they fight for their identities and for what makes them happy, their one true center—their love for one another—guides them back to each other time and again. Author Sonali Dev gives readers a novel steeped in culture but brimming with universality in the excellent book The Vibrant Years. Under the warm sun in Naples, Florida, Bindu Desai has made an important decision. After living with her daughter-in-law, Alisha, for more than 20 years, Bindu is ready to move out to her own place. It’s not because she and Alisha are at each other throats like some Bollywood soap opera; on the contrary, Bindu and Alisha have an incredible relationship that has only gotten stronger since Bindu’s son divorced Alisha and moved back to India. But something in Bindu’s heart tells her the time is right to move, prompted by the inheritance she’s just received that she can’t tell anyone about. On a lark, she visits an open house at Shady Palms, the senior living community that says it’s for residents in their “vibrant years.” At first Bindu is sure she isn’t going to fit in, but when she meets some of the other residents she changes her mind. She has all that money burning a hole in her bank account, and she needs somewhere to spend it. Shady Palms is just the place for that. Meanwhile, Alisha adjusts to life without Bindu around. It surprises her how easy that is. She’s always had a loving relationship with her mother-in-law, and it’s thanks to Bindu that Alisha actually survived her divorce. But Bindu’s personality tends to fill a room, and sometimes it’s a lot for Alisha to handle especially now that she’s trying to make the big jump at work. Alisha’s job as a reporter is about take off; she can feel it. For more than 10 years she’s been stuck with the boring little stories usually used as filler, but through a series of contacts she’s landed a major celebrity interview. She just has to convince her boss, Joyce, that she’s the right person to do the story, even if Joyce keeps implying their audience would “identify” more with another—read: white—reporter onscreen. Out in California, Alisha’s daughter, Cullie, is fighting for Shloka, the app she created. Her bosses are pushing to make it a subscription service, which Cullie is against. She created Shloka to help her manage her anxiety, and it’s helped thousands of other people do the same. She’s not about to start charging those people. But if she can’t come up with something new to offset the cost, she won’t have a choice. When an emergency brings Cullie back to Florida, she finds herself with some unexpected bonding time with her mother and grandmother. The three begin having honest conversations about life and love and decide they need to let loose of some of their inhibitions. Through a series of bad dates, mystery men, and the secret Bindu is hiding from everyone, the Desai women fight for each other much harder than they do with each other and discover that their love can carry them through almost anything. Author Sonali Dev uses a deft touch to build the relationships between the three generations of Desai women. In a refreshing change from other stories about in-laws, the friendship and comradery between Bindu and Alisha will invigorate readers. The care they use with one another rings true to Asian culture but also elevates the ferocity of women tightly knitted to one another no matter their background. The book reads at times like a movie, but Dev doesn’t let the story get out of hand. She balances Bollywood-level moments with hard conversations and a breezy freedom, particularly where Bindu is concerned. Readers will find themselves wishing that more women of Bindu’s generation were that self-assured and that willing to share that assurance with others. Among other things, Dev showcases the nuance of several topics trending in pop culture today. Where some might gloss over the obvious advantages of a patriarchal system, for example, Dev digs deeper. Her sharp insights will leave readers thinking hard long after they finish the book. Those who appreciate books about relationships will definitely want to check out this witty, necessary novel for our times.