Mother Mary Comes To Me: Booker Prize Winner Arundhati Roy To Release Memoir

Award-winning writer Arundhati Roy is reportedly set to release a memoir, 'Mother Mary Comes to Me', giving a glimpse of her complex relationship with her mother. The book, published by Penguin India, is set to release in September 2025. Like much of her work, Booker Prize laureate Roy's upcoming memoir promises a poignant, humorous, and stirring account of the complex dynamics with her mother, Mary Roy, whom she describes as "my shelter and my storm."

'Mother Mary Comes to Me' by Arundhati Roy 

Arundhati Roy's journey to writing Mother Mary Comes to Me began in September 2022 after the passing of Mary, from whom she distanced herself since the age of 18. She describes that this was "not because I didn’t love her, but in order to be able to continue to love her."

Losing her mother made her feel "heart smashed" and "more than a little ashamed" by the intensity of her response. Thus, she found refuge in penning her intricate memories of Mary and journey together -- from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi. 

Speaking about the upcoming book, Roy expressed, "I have been writing this book all my life. Perhaps a mother like mine deserved a writer like me as a daughter. Equally, perhaps a writer like me deserved a mother like her. Even more than a daughter mourning the passing of her mother, I mourn her as a writer who has lost her most enthralling subject."

Manasi Subramaniam, Editor-in-Chief of Penguin Press, Penguin Random House India said, "Filled with heart and nerve, humour and pathos, and the very raw edges of love, Mother Mary Comes to Me is a visceral and unflinching account of personal and political awakening. We are delighted to share it with the world."

Best known for her acclaimed works, The God Of Small Things and The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness, Roy promises yet another raw and intimate portrayal of love, loss, and complicated mother-daughter dynamics in her forthcoming memoir.