Nayantara Roy on the “Badge of Honor” That Inspired Her Debut Novel
In Conversation with Lindsay Hunter on I'm a Writer But
Welcome to I’m a Writer But, where writers discuss their work, their lives, their other work, the stuff that takes up any free time they have, all the stuff they’re not able to get to, and the ways in which any of us get anything done. Plus: book recommendations, bad jokes, okay jokes, despair, joy, and anything else going on that week. Hosted by Lindsay Hunter.
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Today, Nayantara Roy discusses her debut novel, The Magnificent Ruins, new genres, divorce novels, the essay that inspired the novel, the problematic choices her main character made, allowing her main character to choose neither love interest, finding the right agent, breaking all the rules of a debut novel, working in television, and so much more!
From the episode:
Nayantara Roy: The essay that was the genesis of the book that I wrote in grad school and became this book was a divorce essay. It was about being a child of divorce. It was almost like being a celebrity–your parents being divorced in Kolkata in the 80s. A line from that essay is that “no one but movie stars and white people were divorced.” It identified me. I was their daughter–these scandalous people. If you belonged to these tainted individuals, you yourself were a little tainted. I wore it like a badge of honor.
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Nayantara Roy is the author of the debut novel, The Magnificent Ruins. In 2018, she won the Rick DeMarinis Prize for her short story, “8C.” Her plays have been performed in India and the UK and she is currently at work on her second novel, Sisters Of A Halved Heart. Tara is also a television executive at STARZ/Lionsgate, where she oversees the acquisition and creative development of original scripted television series. Originally from India, Tara lives in Los Angeles with too many plants.
