Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star
Mayukh Sen
(Norton, 2026)

In 1936, when the first person of Asian descent was nominated for an Academy Award, no one realized that this milestone had been reached. Merle Oberon, born into poverty in British India to a South Asian mother and a white father, became a star by passing as white. She rose to the highest echelons of the film-world elite in Hollywood’s racially exclusionary Golden Age, all while keeping a secret that could destroy her career. Deftly exploring what we demand from stars and what those demands truly cost, Love, Queenie shines a light on this brilliant actor and her world.

This event is presented in partnership with Rehoboth Beach Film Society and CAMP Rehoboth.

About the Author
Mayukh Sen is an author, professor, and journalist who primarily focuses on film. He has won fellowships for his ongoing work to document the history of South Asians in Hollywood. In a prior life, Sen was a James Beard Award-winning food writer. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches at NYU.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partner —  The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2026 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. 

Thanks to all our donors, especially our education and outreach funding partners: Carolyn & Aaron Nayer, Jen Mason & Clare Hancock, the Red Wagon Foundation, and Browseabout Books. HBF authors visit classrooms in Delaware, and HBF provides their books to schools, libraries, and community organizations.

Our Keynote event is presented by Griswold Home Care for Sussex & Kent Counties and Groome Church; our Closing event is presented by the Delaware Community Foundation. The Spirited Discussion, our gathering for attendees and presenters to celebrate and discuss their day, is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our Program Partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library for event promotion and production; Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival; and Historic Lewes for event promotion and author hospitality. Thanks also to the Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.