English Book Club: Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy đź“š
About the event
Last month, 18 of us gathered around Han Kang's *The Vegetarian* for one of our liveliest discussions yet. Thank you to everyone who came! In November we take a bold step: our fiction book club reads a memoir by one of the great novelists of our time.
The book In *Mother Mary Comes to Me*, Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize-winning author of *The God of Small Things*, tells the story of her mother, Mary Roy. Mary was a brilliant, restless and formidable woman. She founded a school in Kerala and won a landmark legal battle for women's inheritance rights in India. She was also a mother who could be both a refuge and a storm. Roy writes about how her mother shaped her into the writer she became, and how that same mother came to resent it. The result is a portrait of two extraordinary women and of a love that is fierce, complicated and never simple. It is also, surprisingly, very funny. The memoir has been one of the most talked-about books of the past year:
• National Book Critics Circle Award (biography) • One of The New York Times' 10 Best Books of 2025 • Shortlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction
Why read it together? Everyone has a mother story. This book invites us to talk about our own families, about the people who shape us and about what we carry from them, and about where memory ends and storytelling begins. We're expecting a rich and personal conversation. Who is this for? Everyone who loves books and good conversation. The discussion is in English, and you're welcome whether you're a native speaker or not. Come along even if you're still halfway through the book, because your impressions matter more than the last page. New faces are always very welcome! Join the club Our members choose the next titles together in a small WhatsApp group. Ask us at the event and we'll happily add you. 📖 Copies of the book are available at Metis. Drop by and pick yours up! Entry is free. We're a small independent bookshop and café, so we're always happy when you order something during the evening. We look forward to seeing you there! ❤️