Devi Yesodharan was born in 1980 in Kollam, Kerala. She grew up in the Middle East and changed schools six times, because of her parents' frequent moves. "If anything shaped my worldview and my writing, it is not having had the opportunity to grow roots, and always being the new kid in town." She tried to build bridges with people by telling stories, always attempting a narrative out of a fragmented life - one that made sense to her. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the main character in Empire, Aremis, is a migrant. "Her need to belong, her striving and her homesickness, are all very familiar."
Yeshodharan loves art and is a fan of the American painter Georgia O'Keefe. She has always had a day job, partly because she feels she wouldn't manage the writing if she had to face it every day alone with no interruptions. She lives in Bangalore and works as a co-founder on Trendlyne, a financial investing platform. This is her first novel.