Mother Mary Comes to Me, Too
When I first encountered the title Mother Mary Comes to Me , my mind recalled the lyrics before supplying any reason. “When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me…” Surely, I assumed, Arundhati Roy was invoking the Beatles song in some way. The connection seemed obvious. What I did not yet know was whether it extended beyond the shared name. The title lingered nevertheless. Then the book began appearing around me. On bookshelves. On Facebook and Instagram. In other people’s conversations. I remained passive while the book took the active lead. It may simply have been the algorithm doing what algorithms do. Still, it kept entering my field of vision. Then travel happened, yet again. Somewhere between packing too much, sleeping too little and moving through airports with the misplaced confidence of someone who still believes he has perfected the process, I finally carried Mother Mary Comes to Me along. The book loitering at the edges of my consciousness becam...