• Mother Mary Comes to Me
1 1

Mother Mary Comes to Me

Mother Mary Comes to Me

By Arundhati Roy
$22.95 USD
$30.00 USD $22.95 USD
Sale Sold out
Shipping calculated at checkout.

245 in stock

A raw and deeply moving memoir from the legendary author of The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness that traces the complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped Arundhati’s life both as a woman and a writer.

Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, is a soaring account, both intimate and inspirational, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her complex relationship to the extraordinary, singular mother she describes as “my shelter and my storm.”

“Heart-smashed” by her mother Mary’s death in September 2022 yet puzzled and “more than a little ashamed” by the intensity of her response, Roy began to write, to make sense of her feelings about the mother she ran from at age eighteen, “not because I didn’t love her, but in order to be able to continue to love her.” And so begins this astonishing, sometimes disturbing, and surprisingly funny memoir of the author’s journey from her childhood in Kerala, India, where her single mother founded a school, to the writing of her prizewinning novels and essays, through today.

With the scale, sweep, and depth of her novels, The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, and the passion, political clarity, and warmth of her essays, Mother Mary Comes to Me is an ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace—a memoir like no other.

View full details

Customer Reviews

Based on 5 reviews
100%
(5)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
R
Rt
Heartbreaking, Captivating, Beautifully Written

I read the God of Small Things when it first released in 1997 and ever since I’ve been a huge fan of Roy’s. Her writing captivates, her descriptions paint vivid images and scenes that have lingered with me all these years. So much so, that every few years, I must re read it. As soon as this book released I was intrigued. I wasn’t prepared for the hardship, the pain, the utter honesty that has unfolded in the these pages. But she does this with a matter of fact, thoughtful voice. This is a person who sees in words and captures even the ugly beautifully. How lucky are we to be able to see what she sees? I’m awestruck, yet again. Thank you for sharing your story so wholeheartedly.

V
VV
Inspiring

Beautifully written

R
Rita
Could not put it down...

Arundhati!? How did you keep your heart open? This memoir touched nerves in me...but I kept reading. Absolutely compelling...It's the first time I've read anything by her. I can not find the words...I love this woman. She is heroic.

u
umer thasneem
Arundhati at her saucy, spicy best

Arundhati is at her saucy, spicy, sizzling best in this book. A humorous elegy in prose where a rebellious daughter pays homage to her raspy, irascible mother. Verbal wizardry and witchery on full display on every page.
Christiano Ronaldo's mom wanted to have him aborted; thank God, she failed. Mrs. Mary wanted to have Arundhati aborted; she ate green papayas and tried something tricky with a wire coat hanger. Lucky, she failed. The world of football and literature are richer thanks to the failure of these iconic mothers.

S
Srinivas Bodduluri
raw pain and honesty

an ode to a valiant mother but much more … it’s miracle the children not just survived but achieved so much

Our Best sellers

View all