Will I love Mother Mary Comes to Me?

In this essay, Roy writes about her relationship with her mother, Mary, with a mix of sharp honesty and tenderness.

I love how she captures a daughter’s push-and-pull between rebellion and devotion, irritation and gratitude. It’s a reminder that our mothers can be both our fiercest critics and our fiercest protectors—and that understanding them often means revisiting the stories we’ve told ourselves for years.

This is a fascinating memoir by the Booker Prize-winning author of the novel The God of Small Things.

Arundhati Roy recounts her childhood in India, in a community of Syrian Christians; her complex relationship with her domineering mother; the family’s isolation and poverty; the many odds she had to overcome before becoming a writer.