A Room in Bombay: A Memoir

A best–selling novelist turns to memoir in this compelling story of a son’s love, a mother’s obsession, and the malevolent grip of the past.

Indian American author Manil Suri grew up in a large, crumbling apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) that his parents, who were Hindu, shared with three Muslim families. Their single room, at times a refuge from the religious and territorial tensions raging through the apartment, was also a prison that held them captive—his parents unhappy in their marriage, Suri unable to embrace his emerging gayness. At age 20, Suri moved to the US and finally found the freedom to come out and build his future. But the room—and his mother—kept wrenching him back to Bombay.

This remarkable memoir explores how an abode can shape destiny while delving into the difficult question of how much to prioritize our parents’ happiness over our own. Inspired by more than 2,700 letters the author wrote home across three decades, it is ultimately a testament to the abiding, unbreakable bond tying a son to his mother. View Less