“Sometimes I feel that I’m not going to write again,” says Arundhati Roy, “but then it becomes harder to keep quiet than to write it.”

 

Few writers have bridged the personal and political as powerfully as Arundhati Roy. With her first memoir, fittingly titled Mother Mary Comes to Me, she turns to her turbulent relationship with her late mother, Mary Roy, a pioneering feminist who reshaped Indian law.

 

Act I: Let It Be

 

We begin with the imagery that animates the new book (4:10), her tumultuous household growing up (10:00), and how she sifted through those memories while writing The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (15:40).

 

Act II: She’s Leaving Home

 

Roy reflects on her mother’s impact as a teacher (22:00), navigating her severe asthma as a child (24:30), and the moment she ultimately left home (27:20) for architecture school where she worked on film sets (30:00) and discovered The Beatles. 

 

Act III: Revolution 

 

Then, finally, how her writing sprung from her past (32:00), the political attacks that followed the success of her debut novel (35:00), bearing witness in the age of authoritarianism (41:00), and the timeliness of her 1998 essay The End of Imagination (1:01:00).

 

 

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

&ldquo;Sometimes I feel that I&rsquo;m not going to write again,&rdquo; says Arundhati Roy, &ldquo;but then it becomes harder to keep quiet than to write it.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Few writers have bridged the personal and political as powerfully as Arundhati Roy. With her first memoir, fittingly titled&nbsp;<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Mother-Mary-Comes-to-Me/Arundhati-Roy/9781668094716?fbclid=IwY2xjawMBsEtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFrZ2xUT3pOWms4eUM3SEttAR6GaMadyWPxi4Rl0Mm3SJr6TvrpPsaSDicRSJrl56o6IWPK5CqNZ_Pxj2wMBQ_aem_6gGFPwk92t7C09iLVgKRkA">Mother Mary Comes to Me</a>, she turns to her turbulent relationship with her late mother, Mary Roy, a pioneering feminist who reshaped Indian law.
&nbsp;
Act I: Let It Be
&nbsp;
We begin with the imagery that animates the new book (4:10), her tumultuous household growing up (10:00), and how she sifted through those memories while writing The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (15:40).
&nbsp;
Act II: She&rsquo;s Leaving Home
&nbsp;
Roy reflects on her mother&rsquo;s impact as a teacher (22:00), navigating her severe asthma as a child (24:30), and the moment she ultimately left home (27:20) for architecture school where she worked on film sets (30:00) and discovered The Beatles.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Act III: Revolution&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Then, finally, how her writing sprung from her past (32:00), the political attacks that followed the success of her debut novel (35:00), bearing witness in the age of authoritarianism (41:00), and the timeliness of her 1998 essay The End of Imagination (1:01:00).
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at mail@talkeasypod.com.

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, activists, and politicians. Where people sound like people. Hosted by Sam Fragoso. New episodes every Sunday.

Where people sound like people, since 2016.

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