Arundhati Roy
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy is her memoir exploring her early love/hate relationship with her mother, her education in architecture, her writing, the success of her debut novel, and the political activism of her later years.
Roy’s mother was a pioneering feminist who advocated for women’s rights, supported women, provided them with protection and gainful employment, fought the establishment, started her own school, and was adored by the many people whose lives she touched. Unfortunately, she lacked the skills or the interest to be a good parent. She abused her two children, and subjected Arundhati to horrendous cruelty and verbal abuse.
Her mother’s cruelty toward her scarred Arundhati and had a lasting impact on her life. She leaves home at eighteen to forge her own path. Much of the memoir consists of a two-pronged approach: showering praise on her mother for her staunch advocacy of women and for her bravery in challenging legal restrictions on women; simultaneously struggling to understand why her mother withheld the same love and support from her own children.
Arundhati’s progressive political views thread the memoir. She is unafraid to take risks while speaking truth to power. She has been threatened and has even served a short time in jail for her political views. But she continues to speak loudly and clearly through writing that confronts the injustice, discrimination, othering, and violence perpetrated by the Indian government as it launches into fascism and Hindu supremacy. Her explication of the violence in Kashmir is especially disturbing.
The memoir charts the influences on Roy’s life and on her writing. It forms a rich tapestry of memory, her emergence as a writer, her political activism, and her complex relationship with her mother. She portrays the characters who drift in and out of her life with realistic detail. Many of them serve as inspiration for the characters in her novels. The narrative meanders at times, and the timeline is scrambled. But it is emotionally strong, rich in detail, and provides intriguing insight into the makings of an award-winning novelist.