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Nilima Khaling Rai
SIKKIM

Nilima Khaling Rai

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Nilima Khaling is a debut author from Sikkim whose writing explores grief, trauma, emotional repression, and the complexities of human behaviour. Her debut novel, The Pause, blends psychological suspense with emotional introspection and morally complex characters. Influenced by writers like Fyodor…Show more

Nilima Khaling is a debut author from Sikkim whose writing explores grief, trauma, emotional repression, and the complexities of human behaviour. Her debut novel, The Pause, blends psychological suspense with emotional introspection and morally complex characters. Influenced by writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky, Sylvia Plath, and Paulo Coelho, her storytelling is reflective, layered, and psychologically driven.

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Their books, and who here has read them
This summer I will kill myself
This summer I will kill myself
2 readers · nobody has finished it yet
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The Pause
The Pause
10 readers · 1 finished
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Featured on NortheastReads

Interviews, features and reviews we have published about Nilima Khaling Rai.

ARTICLE · JUN 1, 2026
Nilima Khaling Rai Returns with This Summer I Will Kill Myself, a Novel on Mental Health, Trauma, and Recovery
From the author of The Pause comes a powerful new novel that examines the distance between who we appear to be and who we truly are—through a moving story of trauma, depression, and healing.
Ask Nilima

They answer here, in their own words. Questions stay open until they get to them.

shimrayshimrayasked 17 May
Authors from the Northeast are often known for writing stories and poetry deeply rooted in their culture and traditions. Psychological thrillers, however, are still quite rare in the region’s literary space. What inspired you to explore this genre and write a psychological thriller novel?
NKNilima Khaling RaiAuthor
Growing up in the Northeast, I was surrounded by stories of ghosts, spirits, and the unsettling mysteries woven into our folklore. Every culture carries its own tales of fear and the unknown, and those stories always fascinated me. There was something deeply compelling about the way they reflected human emotions, beliefs, and the darkness people often hesitate to confront.

As I grew older, however, my curiosity slowly shifted from fictional horrors to the horrors that exist within real human behavior. I became increasingly drawn toward true crimes, psychological conflicts, and the unsettling complexity of morality, the way situations can appear logically wrong, yet still exist within shades of emotional and moral ambiguity. What fascinated me most was how human beings are capable of both cruelty and vulnerability at the same time.

This book was born from the intersection of those two worlds: the haunting atmosphere of folklore and the disturbing depth of the human mind. Blending elements of psychological tension, mystery, and emotional conflict, I wanted to create a story that feels unsettling not only because of what lurks in the dark, but because of what exists within us.

I truly hope you experience the same excitement, intrigue, and emotional intensity while reading this book as I did while writing it.