HarperCollins presents MARIA, JUST MARIA by Sandhya Mary

Translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil

Published by Harper Perennial
Paperback | Fiction | 244 pp | INR 499
Releasing 10 January 2024

NEW DELHI, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An insightful and humorous take on ideas like normal–abnormal, natural–human, love–hate, etc. that define contemporary society, and the exuberant and moving story of a woman trying to find her place in this world.

"A rare novel." — S. Hareesh, author of Moustache, winner of the 2020 JCB Prize for Literature

"A must-read!" — Daisy Rockwell, translator of Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize

About the Book

Following the death of her grandfather, Maria has stopped speaking — not because she can't, but because she doesn't want to. 

Now in a psychiatric hospital, as she begins the process of 'reconnecting with reality', Maria recalls her journey of being 'just Maria' — a girl born into a Syrian Christian family in Kerala, whose companions were a grandfather who took her along to wander around the village and its toddy shops; a great-aunt with dementia who challenged Maria's position as the youngest in the family; a dog with a penchant for philosophy; and various long-dead family members, including a great-grandmother with a knack for prophecies, a patron saint who insisted on interfering in people's affairs, and Karthav Eesho Mishiha with whom Maria has regular conversations.

Sandhya Mary's novel Maria, Just Maria — masterfully translated by the award-winning Jayasree Kalathil — is an insightful and humorous take on ideas like normal–abnormal, natural–human, love–hate, etc. that define contemporary society, and the exuberant and moving story of a woman trying to find her place in this world.

Author Sandhya Mary says, "For me the process of writing Maria, Just Maria was a celebration of everything 'not normal'! It was a process so full of craziness, humour and creativity!"

Jayasree Kalathil, translator of Maria, Just Maria, and award-winning author, says, "Maria, Just Maria, is, in my opinion, unique in Malayalam literature. Maria's story is not the universally shared story of women everywhere, and yet, in her, we will find a piece of ourselves. Sandhya Mary's telling of this story is humorous and poignant at the same time. The moment I finished reading the original, I had no doubt that I wanted to translate it."

Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher – Literary, HarperCollins India, says, "This is a surprising, joyous, tender and moving work about subjects that are often, stereotypically and almost by default, meted out sombre and grave treatment. I'm ever so grateful to Jayasree for having introduced us to Sandhya Mary's work — and for so unerringly translating it, that readers of English, such as myself, can savour it. And I hope this is only the first of many works in Sandhya's unique voice that we will have the pleasure of reading."

Praise for Maria, Just Maria

"Will there be anything left if madness is taken away from life and from art? Madness is creativity as well as an effort to escape from the shackles of society, even as the mad person remains 'just' another human being. A self-inquiry steeped in materiality makes Sandhya Mary's debut, Maria, Just Maria, a rare novel and Maria, a literary character with a difference. Jayasree Kalathil's brilliant translation adds to its richness." — S. Hareesh

"Jayasree Kalathil brings her expert ear to this flawless and confident translation of the complex voice of a mad woman. A must-read!" — Daisy Rockwell

About the Author and the Translator

Sandhya Mary is a writer and media professional. Her first book, published in 2011, was a collection of short stories titled Chittikkaran Yudas Bhoothavarthamana Kalangalkkidayil (Chittikkaran Yudas, in Between Past and Present). Maria Verum Maria (2018) is her debut novel. The book, currently in its third edition, established her as a storyteller who engages with serious, topical issues in a light-hearted and humanistic voice. As a media professional, Sandhya's writings on contemporary social and political issues have been published in various forums, including TruecopyThink and Mathrubhumi weekend supplement. After receiving her master's degree in communication and journalism, she worked with Indiavision, Kerala's first 24/7 news channel. Currently, she is a producer with Mathrubhumi Club FM. Sandhya grew up in a predominantly Christian village in Ernakulam district in Kerala and currently lives in Kochi. She loves to cook, eat, and wander around.

Jayasree Kalathil is the author of The Sackclothman, a children's book that has been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, and Telugu. She shared the JCB Prize for Literature in 2020 with S. Hareesh for her translation of his novel, Moustache. She is a recipient of the Crossword Book Award for Indian Language Translation and the V. Abdulla Memorial Translation Prize. Her translation of Sheela Tomy's Valli (2022) was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature, the American Literary Translators Association's National Translation Award in Prose, and the Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book of the Year Award. Originally from Kottakkal in Malappuram district, Kerala, Jayasree currently lives in a small village in the New Forest in England.

About HarperCollins India

HarperCollins is celebrating its 31st anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 and 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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