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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.
"Suri expertly parallels the apartment's combination of claustrophobia and coziness with his conflicted feelings about his aging parents...His portrait of [his mother] is clear-eyed and prismatic, highlighting both her sweetness and her intensity. Readers will find this a moving consideration of the ties that bind." —Publishers Weekly
"Drawing on the 2,711 letters that his mother cherished, Suri has created a probing memoir about his family, especially the deep bond between him and his mother; his homosexuality; and the uncanny hold the apartment exerted on them all...an empathetic portrait of his parents' entrapment, and a candid account of his struggle to be responsible to them, and to himself." —Kirkus Reviews
"In the Hindu epic, The Ramayan, Shravan exemplifies a devoted son, caring for his aging blind parents. That renowned novelist Suri mentions Shravan's story in his moving memoir reflects the guilt he struggles with as he immigrated to the U.S...Suri emerges as a Shravan for our times, demonstrating extraordinary patience and service to his parents under severely trying circumstances."— Booklist
"With steadiness of gaze, keen perception, and an uncanny exactitude of language, Manil Suri has written a beautiful memoir that is both compassionate and courageous. A Room in Bombay is a wonderful book." ―Rabih Alameddine, author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible
"They say you can't go home again…but can you ever truly leave? In A Room in Bombay, acclaimed novelist Manil Suri turns inward, penning a memoir with piercing intimacy and psychological depth. From his origins as the closeted son of sparring parents in a crumbling one-room flat, to his adulthood as a partnered gay man in America, Suri reveals how one claustrophobic space―and the mother who remained inside it―shaped him across oceans and decades. Wryly observed and heartbreakingly honest, this is a story about familial duty, unconditional love and the rebellion of selfhood―and all the impossible choices that come with growing up and away." ―Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland
"Rooms in Bombay are not big in size, but huge in heart. Manil Suri's memoir will make you want to hug your mother. Written in clean, direct prose and without excess sentimentality, it explores all the dimensions of the complicated bond between parent and child―while also making me laugh out loud, frequently. If you were born of a mother, read this book." ―Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
This information about A Room in Bombay was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Manil Suri is the internationally acclaimed author of The Death of Vishnu and other books. His work has been translated into twenty-seven languages and received several honors, including winning the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and being longlisted for the Booker Prize. He is a distinguished professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and lives with his husband in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Author Interview
Link to Manil Suri's Website
Name Pronunciation
Manil Suri: Ma-neel Soo-ree
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