An ASU professor’s debut novel about the difficulties adjusting to a new culture has already inspired community members and sold out at a local bookstore, less than a week after its release.

“Under the Lemon Trees,” written by English faculty instructor Bhira Backhaus, is based on the author’s experience growing up in a small-town Sikh community in California’s Sacramento Valley.

The novel, released March 17, details the struggles of a teenage girl who lives in a similar environment and how she juggles the challenges of growing up between two cultures, Backhaus said.

“It’s a story that I’ve [always] known I wanted to tell,” she said.

Dealing with cultural disconnect is one of the story’s driving forces, Backhaus said, but many of the novel’s themes, such as the search for love, identity and dignity, are cultural universals she hopes appeal to people of all backgrounds.

Although she said she hopes “Under the Lemon Trees” will have similar success to the string of popular tales of the Indian experience, such as “Slumdog Millionaire” and the novels of Jhumpa Lahiri, Backhaus said her work is different.

“Under the Lemon Trees” tells the story of Sikh Indians immigrating to California from lower-class villages in India, she said — a story that has not been told by other successful media depictions of Indian life.

“It’s relevant because the Indian experience is still very diverse,” and India itself has many different cultures, she said.

Backhaus said she hopes her novel contributes to the public’s “blossoming interest in ethnic American experiences.”

Backhaus read two excerpts from the novel Saturday night at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, which has already sold all 50 copies of the novel in stock, according to Changing Hands event coordinator Rachel Tavares. About 80 people attended the reading, which was followed by an audience question-and-answer session and book signing.

Audience members at the reading said they were inspired by Backhaus’ story of cultural diversity.

Vicki Aguirre, a Phoenix resident who attended Saturday’s reading, said she was still able to identify with the Indian main characters in “Under the Lemon Trees” even though her parents immigrated from Mexico, because her family also had to integrate with mainstream American culture. She said reading novels like “Under the Lemon Trees” helps communities address issues of race.

“I think people will be more sensitive and understanding,” if they read books where they can identify with diverse characters, she said. “I think they’ll grow a newfound respect for other cultures.”

Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.