Mother Mary Comes to Me - 5 stars > Likes and Comments

Mother Mary Comes to Me – 5 stars

Wow. What a story! Roy’s an astonishing writer, and, as I learned from Mother Mary Comes to Me, an astonishing person. This book is an autobiography, largely focused on her relationship with her mother, who she refers to as Mrs. Roy. Mrs. Roy would have genuinely preferred not to have her children, a fact she frequently made clear. She left their father on the tea estate where he worked a bit and drank a lot, and set out on her own with the young kids and nothing else besides her teaching degree. She managed over the years to parlay the latter into a big successful school where she was well loved by generations of students. She took on the Supreme Court of India over the law restricting inheritance to daughters – and she won, alienating her brother (Arundhati’s uncle) for years. She was one fierce woman – and one abusive mother to her two children. It’s no wonder that Arundhati fled home and the abuse at sixteen and stayed away for years. But Arundhati turned out to be just as strong as her mother, and, amazing to me, loved her deeply in spite of the abuse. I suspect they had a great deal in common, although Arundhati appears to be kinder and far less mercurial.

This is the first time I’ve read Arundhati Roy’s writing, although I think I must have started The God of Small Things in the past. It seems that many of the characters in that are based on her family members. Now I plan to read it properly.

Her prose is delightfully creative in the descriptions of places and people. Somehow, she avoids sounding like she tried too hard. Her descriptions of the injustices in India, particularly the ethnonationalism of Modi ought to serve as warnings to those living in countries becoming increasingly authoritarian. I hadn’t realized how much non-fiction she’s written, fiercely advocating for climate and social justice.

Altogether a read well worth the time!

Nice review, Susan! I'm adding this one. For what it's worth, I gave 5 stars to The God of Small Things. I need to read her non-fiction.