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A Room in Bombay: A Memoir
A best-selling novelist turns to memoir in this compelling story of a son’s love, a mother’s obsession, and the malevolent grip of the past.
Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) which his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. Their single room, at times a refuge from the religious and territorial tensions pervading the apartment, was also a prison that held them captive—his parents stuck in an unhappy marriage, the author unable to explore the dawning realization he might be gay. At age 20, Suri managed to break free and come to the US, where he finally found the freedom to embrace his sexuality and find a life partner. But the room, which still held his parents hostage, kept wrenching him back to Bombay.
By now real estate prices had risen so much that neighbors had begun conspiring to take over the room, causing Suri’s parents to dig in even more. Eventually it was only his mother, Prem, left, who had staked all her happiness on her son but was unable to escape the room’s hold on her. When a rash of mysterious incidents seemed to beset the room, Suri realized how little time he had left to convince Prem that a happier life might await beyond the four walls that both enthralled and imprisoned her.
This remarkable, gripping memoir explores how an abode can shape destiny, while delving into the difficult question of how much to prioritize our parents’ happiness over our own. Inspired by over 2,700 letters the author wrote home over three decades, it is ultimately a testament to the abiding, unbreakable bond tying a son to his mother.
Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) which his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. Their single room, at times a refuge from the religious and territorial tensions pervading the apartment, was also a prison that held them captive—his parents stuck in an unhappy marriage, the author unable to explore the dawning realization he might be gay. At age 20, Suri managed to break free and come to the US, where he finally found the freedom to embrace his sexuality and find a life partner. But the room, which still held his parents hostage, kept wrenching him back to Bombay.
By now real estate prices had risen so much that neighbors had begun conspiring to take over the room, causing Suri’s parents to dig in even more. Eventually it was only his mother, Prem, left, who had staked all her happiness on her son but was unable to escape the room’s hold on her. When a rash of mysterious incidents seemed to beset the room, Suri realized how little time he had left to convince Prem that a happier life might await beyond the four walls that both enthralled and imprisoned her.
This remarkable, gripping memoir explores how an abode can shape destiny, while delving into the difficult question of how much to prioritize our parents’ happiness over our own. Inspired by over 2,700 letters the author wrote home over three decades, it is ultimately a testament to the abiding, unbreakable bond tying a son to his mother.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published April 21, 2026
16 people are currently reading
4560 people want to read
About the author
Manil Suri
21 books199 followersManil Suri is a distinguished mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Author of three acclaimed novels, including The Death of Vishnu, he is a former contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, for which he has written several widely read pieces on mathematics. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 5, 2026
An excellent memoir.
May 1, 2026
I very much enjoyed reading this book. Manil is a friend and fellow mathematician. It was quite interesting getting to know a lot of new aspects of his life through this memoir. Even without knowing him personally, it would be a great read, focused on balancing life between two very different cultures, and trying to fulfill the familial duties at a distance.
April 26, 2026
Being an only child, an Indian son, homosexual, and the child of Hindu parents stuck in a loveless marriage, Manil Suri faced challenges.
In his memoir, A ROOM IN BOMBAY, Suri talks about his life and how it unspooled in Bombay, then stretched across the world from a Pittsburgh university to one in Maryland, with trips and vacations to New York City, London, Paris, California and Delhi. He meets the challenges of his life, crashes and burns a few times, has a loving partner, and learns that he can never quite leave home.
Home was an apartment in Razia Mansion, where Suri’s father, Ram, and his mother, Prem, moved in 1958. He was born a few months later, and they were a tight unit. They shared the apartment with three other families (all Muslims), and the many quarrels and arguments involved the refrigerator, marking floor territory, using and cleaning the toilets, and verbal spats among their visitors. Suri had shame for their situation but also was extraordinarily loyal to his parents. The machinations of maintaining this room were complex. It was ramshackle and needed repair, yet they were all bound to it. It was home.
Suri’s growing understanding and acceptance of his homosexuality is quite naturally a huge focus of his adolescence and early manhood. Prem, affectionately called Mammy, is able to somewhat comprehend what his choices meant because she read and had gotten an education, but Ram did not. It seems that Suri has a single regret about his father’s death --- that he did not speak openly with him and answer questions.
Suri returns again and again to Bombay during the 11 years after Ram’s passing. He moves Prem to America to live with him, but then she goes back to India. He visits her and the extended family, and he sees changes in Bombay, Delhi and the surrounding areas. Amidst the uncertainty of Prem’s declining health, he is steadfast in his commitment to her, finding solutions and new paths for her contentment. However, she does not always take them. During a final airplane trip to Bombay, Suri reflects on the “what-ifs” of her life. Her choices gave him life, but would her hypothetical choices have paralleled his? He does not know.
The obligations of an Indian son to his parents are immense. Social interactions, Bollywood plots, cultural and religious norms, and fables from Ramayana are all reminders of filial duty that exemplar sons are meant to achieve. After his move to America, Suri learned the precept that “everyone’s responsible for their own life,” which sounded liberating and promising. But it was not so easy to abandon his parents.
The memories of card games sitting on the edge of the single bed, the joy he recalls in his parents' faces on the balcony as he would return home from school, their shoulders lifting as they recognized him in the crowd --- Suri’s life felt bound to them and to the room in Bombay. He thought he needed to repay the “surging, overpowering, all-engulfing love” from his childhood. He was supportive and generous beyond measure, and he needed that responsibility to come to an honorable close.
In an effort to make the distance between himself and his parents more bearable, Suri writes letters --- more than 2,700 of them, all addressed to Prem. They show the richness, honesty and humor of his life. You will remember A ROOM IN BOMBAY long after you put it down as you consider your own understanding of home.
Reviewed by Jane T. Krebs
In his memoir, A ROOM IN BOMBAY, Suri talks about his life and how it unspooled in Bombay, then stretched across the world from a Pittsburgh university to one in Maryland, with trips and vacations to New York City, London, Paris, California and Delhi. He meets the challenges of his life, crashes and burns a few times, has a loving partner, and learns that he can never quite leave home.
Home was an apartment in Razia Mansion, where Suri’s father, Ram, and his mother, Prem, moved in 1958. He was born a few months later, and they were a tight unit. They shared the apartment with three other families (all Muslims), and the many quarrels and arguments involved the refrigerator, marking floor territory, using and cleaning the toilets, and verbal spats among their visitors. Suri had shame for their situation but also was extraordinarily loyal to his parents. The machinations of maintaining this room were complex. It was ramshackle and needed repair, yet they were all bound to it. It was home.
Suri’s growing understanding and acceptance of his homosexuality is quite naturally a huge focus of his adolescence and early manhood. Prem, affectionately called Mammy, is able to somewhat comprehend what his choices meant because she read and had gotten an education, but Ram did not. It seems that Suri has a single regret about his father’s death --- that he did not speak openly with him and answer questions.
Suri returns again and again to Bombay during the 11 years after Ram’s passing. He moves Prem to America to live with him, but then she goes back to India. He visits her and the extended family, and he sees changes in Bombay, Delhi and the surrounding areas. Amidst the uncertainty of Prem’s declining health, he is steadfast in his commitment to her, finding solutions and new paths for her contentment. However, she does not always take them. During a final airplane trip to Bombay, Suri reflects on the “what-ifs” of her life. Her choices gave him life, but would her hypothetical choices have paralleled his? He does not know.
The obligations of an Indian son to his parents are immense. Social interactions, Bollywood plots, cultural and religious norms, and fables from Ramayana are all reminders of filial duty that exemplar sons are meant to achieve. After his move to America, Suri learned the precept that “everyone’s responsible for their own life,” which sounded liberating and promising. But it was not so easy to abandon his parents.
The memories of card games sitting on the edge of the single bed, the joy he recalls in his parents' faces on the balcony as he would return home from school, their shoulders lifting as they recognized him in the crowd --- Suri’s life felt bound to them and to the room in Bombay. He thought he needed to repay the “surging, overpowering, all-engulfing love” from his childhood. He was supportive and generous beyond measure, and he needed that responsibility to come to an honorable close.
In an effort to make the distance between himself and his parents more bearable, Suri writes letters --- more than 2,700 of them, all addressed to Prem. They show the richness, honesty and humor of his life. You will remember A ROOM IN BOMBAY long after you put it down as you consider your own understanding of home.
Reviewed by Jane T. Krebs
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
An interesting memoir that calls to mind what we owe our parents throughout our lives, especially as they age and become infirm in body and mind. This was fascinating in terms of showing Indian culture and ways of life that are taken for granted there, versus America. But I didn't feel it was written in a way that made me especially understand the writer or his mother in depth - it felt emotionally subdued (which may also be a cultural difference that makes it tough for this American to fully empathize). I thought the strongest part of the book was toward the end, as mom is descending into dementia. Very scary, sad, and relatable. Won in a Goodreads giveaway - thanks, Goodreads!
May 5, 2026
I was sobbing in my car as I listened to the end of this book. This was a raw and honest memoir. I felt the love he had for his mother even as I thought he was selfish and could have done more for her towards the end. This was a joy to read.
Review of advance copy
Very rarely reading a book written by an international student. Got me thinking a lot about my own parents who live away and my duties/responsibilities.
May 3, 2026
Sorrow permeates every aspect of his life: past, present, and even future.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews