Arundhati Roy’s New Memoir Bridges Personal History with Literary Legacy

9 September 2025 Literature

A New Chapter in Roy’s Literary Journey

September 2025 marks a significant milestone in Arundhati Roy’s literary career with the publication of ‘Mother Mary Comes to Me’, her first memoir focusing on her early years living with her mother.

The memoir reveals intimate details about Roy’s youth, including her teenage years when she refused to return home, often finding solace by the riverside in southern India. When she left Kerala for New Delhi to pursue her studies in the 1970s, she made a decisive break, severing contact with her mother, Mary Roy, for several years.

Recent Achievements and Recognition

Roy’s enduring influence in the literary world was recently acknowledged when she won the 2024 PEN Pinter Prize. The award, given by English PEN, recognizes her for casting an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world. As noted by English PEN chair Ruth Borthwick, Roy has consistently told “urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty.”

Activism and Literary Legacy

Roy has established herself as more than just a writer; for many in India and globally, she represents resistance – a novelist who chose to move beyond literary celebrity to advocate against dams, wars, Hindutva, and imperialism.

Her latest work, written following Mary Roy’s death in 2022, weaves together her journey from Kerala to Delhi, combining difficult truths with unexpected wit. Beyond her creative writing, Roy has maintained a strong presence in political nonfiction, addressing the challenges faced by her homeland in the age of global capitalism, with numerous publications including ‘Power Politics’, ‘The Algebra of Infinite Justice’, and ‘Capitalism: A Ghost Story’.

Looking Forward

Following her previous works, including ‘The End of Imagination’, ‘The Doctor and the Saint’, ‘My Seditious Heart’, and ‘Azadi’, her new memoir represents a soaring account of her development both as a person and as a writer, particularly shaped by her complex relationship with her extraordinary mother.