About Leela – Contemporary Fiction writer
Leela Dutt has written a wide array of contemporary fiction, novels as well as short stories, over the years - mind you, some of her family say they have also been reduced to tears of laughter when they receive texts from Leela about her day's events.
Raised in Golders Green by an Indian father and a Danish mother, Leela has always considered herself an outsider. Living all of her adult life in Cardiff, Wales, she has been married to the philosopher Robin Attfield for more than 50 years and they have three children, seven grandchildren of whom six survive, and one great-granddaughter, Zara. She is a longstanding member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. Get in touch today with any further enquiries.
info@attieldduttbooks.co.uk
Education and Experience
After studying history at Oxford, Leela briefly worked as a teacher. She had a job selling dress fabrics in a snooty up-market Cardiff store, whose male manager complained about her untidy appearance (“Well, I was pregnant at the time, but all the same...”)
She later wrote for a local paper and after achieving a degree in computing, she set up and managed an online database about housing research. Leela also worked as a proofreader and sub-editor for the Big Issue Cymru and wrote several book reviews for them.
Obviously she supports Wales in rugby, and is seen here at a book signing one Saturday when there happened to be an international that afternoon...
Travels
Leela has a lifelong love of travelling. As well as having lived in Nigeria and Kenya with Robin and their small children, she’s been inspired by her experiences in various places since, including Beijing, California, Lesotho, and Reykjavik. She has visited her late father’s home in Kolkata, where his family have lived for more than three centuries. Leela also delights in keeping up with the younger generation of her late mother’s family in Copenhagen. When there a favourite place of hers is the restaurant on the top floor of the department store Magasin, where she loves the smørrebrød (open sandwiches). This led to a hilarious chapter in her novel A DISTANT VOICE IN THE DARKNESS during a book launch at which our heroine has an unfortunate encounter with some sildesalat...
Fiction
Inspired by her travels and life experience, Leela’s fiction covers a range of subjects, from the Peace Movement in the 1980s, (RUBIK'S CUBE) to artificial intelligence and the 20th-century history of Indian and German-Jewish families (MATHISON).
If you love her recent short stories FRESH BEGINNINGS, why not try her earlier collection KINGFISHER BLUE?
Any of her earlier books can be bought for £5 included postage by emailing
info@attfieldduttbooks.co.uk
If you read Leela’s books, please leave a review on Amazon!
Out Now
A Distant Voice in the Darkness
Published by 186 Publishing Limited, A Distant Voice In The Darkness is a novel by Leela Dutt, about a sweeping romance that starts with a chance meeting at university and eventually spans countries and continents. The book is available from good bookshops and Amazon (£8.99 paperback, £3.99 on Kindle).
Fresh Beginnings
Out now from Bridge House, Fresh Beginnings is an intriguing mixture of stories, all in Leela Dutt’s inimitable style – something here for everyone, and beautifully illustrated by Kate Attfield.
Some are short and funny, some poignant – widows faced with losing their grandchildren, a daughter burying her father and dealing with a domineering mother. One endearing narrator is not human at all but still strikes a chord with us. Time travellers visit Hans Andersen’s Copenhagen; a young German boy is welcomed by some but by no means all in Hertfordshire just after the war.
Perilous adventures in a hire car in the south of France are described by a lad who is unaware that at the very moment he’s telling us about his family holiday, London is under attack, in a story first published by Bridge House in the anthology On This Day. A young Japanese car manufacturer encounters the strange people of the South Wales Valleys – and their grandfather who was a prisoner of war in Burma. Finally, the life story of a Quaker celebrating her ninetieth birthday at the end of the century. Leela Dutt’s collection Fresh Beginnings will warm your heart and stay in your mind – it might even make you laugh! "...Dutt's writing is noted for its vivid imagery, emotional depth, and insightful exploration of human experiences, making her stories both engaging and thought-provoking..."
Some are short and funny, some poignant – widows faced with losing their grandchildren, a daughter burying her father and dealing with a domineering mother. One endearing narrator is not human at all but still strikes a chord with us. Time travellers visit Hans Andersen’s Copenhagen; a young German boy is welcomed by some but by no means all in Hertfordshire just after the war.
Perilous adventures in a hire car in the south of France are described by a lad who is unaware that at the very moment he’s telling us about his family holiday, London is under attack, in a story first published by Bridge House in the anthology On This Day. A young Japanese car manufacturer encounters the strange people of the South Wales Valleys – and their grandfather who was a prisoner of war in Burma. Finally, the life story of a Quaker celebrating her ninetieth birthday at the end of the century. Leela Dutt’s collection Fresh Beginnings will warm your heart and stay in your mind – it might even make you laugh! "...Dutt's writing is noted for its vivid imagery, emotional depth, and insightful exploration of human experiences, making her stories both engaging and thought-provoking..."
Useful Links
A Contemporary Fiction writer
As a contemporary fiction writer, Leela specialises in novels and short stories.