Steeped in Smoke, Santoor, and Saffron Dreams: The Making of My Debut Gothic Romance Novel

Have you ever read a book so haunting and romantic that you found yourself sighing at candlelight, half-expecting a ghost to appear in your hallway? That’s exactly the kind of story I wanted to write—a novel wrapped in velvet shadows, longing glances, and the scent of something ancient and unforgettable.

And so, The Serpent & the Saffron Bride was born.

As a lifelong lover of gothic romance stories, I grew up devouring the atmospheric paperbacks of the 1960s and 70s—the ones with mysterious mansions, windswept heroines, and secrets lurking behind locked doors. Authors like Jean Vicary, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis A. Whitney transported me to faraway places filled with brooding charm and slow-burning suspense. Their stories taught me that love can be both a sanctuary and a storm.

But I also drew inspiration from a very different place: the opulent, eerie, and gloriously dramatic world of 1980s Bollywood. Films like Bees Saal Baad and Ghungroo Ki Awaaz captivated me with their blend of romance, reincarnation, and haunting melodies. There was something delightfully gothic about those movies—the stormy nights, the veiled pasts, the soulful gazes in candlelit halls. I wanted to bottle that feeling and pour it onto the page.

So I did.

My writing process? Let’s just say it was as moody and magical as the story itself. Picture this: late nights, santoor music gently echoing from a YouTube playlist, incense curling through the air like forgotten memories, and a notebook stained with tea, coffee, and wild imaginings. I wrote with my senses fully engaged—saffron on my mind, sandalwood in the air, and ghostly whispers dancing between chapters.

Set on a mysterious island, The Serpent and the Saffron Bride tells the story of Priya, a librarian with secrets of her own, and a mansion called Serpent’s Embrace that remembers more than it should. What unfolds is a tale of ancestral echoes, forbidden love, and the kind of gothic glamour that makes your heart ache and your spine tingle.

This novel is a love letter—to the gothic romance novels of the 60s and 70s and the melodramatic magic of old Bollywood.

The Serpent & the Saffron Bride is now available—and I would be thrilled if you stepped into its shadowy halls and let the story take you somewhere unforgettable.

With love (and a few frangipani petals scattered for luck),
Nafisa Zareen Khan
Author | Artist | Dreamer of Haunted Love Stories

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