A pilgrimage through faith, betrayal, and the cost of truth.
God in Drag is a literary novel set in 1998 Varanasi, India, that explores what happens when devotion collapses, certainty dissolves, and the stories we build to survive begin to fail.
The Story
Growing up in a California commune, Micah Connerly was steeped in mantras, mysticism…and lies.
After a drunken confession exposes a family secret, 32-year-old Micah hawked everything but his Harley to scour India for the guru stepfather who abandoned him—the one person who knows the truth.
A chance accident draws Micah into volunteering at a Varanasi hospice alongside three others, each fleeing a secret past. As he searches ashrams, backstreets, and burning ghats for the man who raised and betrayed him, Micah is pulled into a world where devotion, deception, and desire blur, forcing him to confront the darkest corners of faith—and himself.
As illusions fall away, he’s caught between the man he was, the truth he fears, and a love he never saw coming.
When the answers he seeks come with a threat against the volunteers’ lives, Micah must decide how far he’s willing to go for the truth—and what he’s willing to lose to claim it.
Lush, tense, and transformative, God in Drag is a pilgrimage through longing, betrayal, and the grace that awaits when every mask is ripped away.
Praise
“This is a story of stark truths and the ways people console themselves through moments of ambiguity. Madera does a wonderful job as she offers a nuanced and immersive portrayal of Indian culture and lived realities.“
~Literary Book Reviews
The Story Behind God in Drag
I’ve traveled through books since I learned how to read. As a child, I loved to pull out a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, find an exotic locale, and imagine what life would be like if I lived there. I had an ongoing fantasy about living with a caravan of Bedouin nomads, but the closest I got was a camel ride at the edge of the Sahara with a guide who claimed to be Bedouin.
In 1994-95, during an eight-month trek around India, Sri Lanka & Nepal, my husband and I volunteered for six weeks at Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying in Calcutta.
It was among the toughest six weeks of my life mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The work was grueling and the heat intense, but it was the peaceful acquiescence to the pain, suffering, and impending death by the vast majority of the patients that made the most impact on me.
The members of the Missionaries of Charity who dedicated their entire lives to this work were some of the most loving and humble people I’ve ever met. A close second was the long-term volunteers from around the world who served the poor, sick, and dying for months and even years.
As a self-preservation strategy to distract myself from the work, I began to imagine “what if…?” and sketched the outline of what eventually became this novel. I transplanted the setting to Varanasi because the narrow alleyways of the Old City and the ghat culture contained Micah in a way that the overwhelming sprawl of Calcutta never could.
Request a Virtual Author Visit
God in Drag sparks debate. Whether your book group, friend circle, or yoga studio likes to chat about books over a glass of wine, a bottle of skunky Indian beer, or a steaming cup of chai, I’d love to join you with a virtual author visit!
First, see the Reader Discussion Questions for your group’s book discussion.
The last question is: If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?
- Subject Line: Virtual Author Visit Request
- Tell me a little about your group
- Do you have virtual meeting capability or would you like me to host the chat?
- Three or more times that could work for your group and your time zone. I live in the Eastern/New York time zone.
- Your phone number or best email to reply and organize the visit!