LETTERS TO MY MOTHER

A poignant tale of mothers, daughters, and healing, Letters To My Mother explores love, trauma, and redemption across generations and continents.

on May 15, 2025

“Shared struggles, diverse choices, triumphs—a profound exploration of resilience.”
— Saksham Garg, Author of SAMSARA

Vikkas Arun Pareek’s Letters To My Mother is a deeply moving and intricately layered narrative that spans three generations and two continents. Told through an evocative epistolary format, this novel explores the emotional landscape of motherhood, trauma, and redemption. It is not just a story—it’s a journey through the buried regrets and unspoken hopes that shape a family.

At its heart, the novel follows Meera, Janki, and Shakuntala—three women connected by blood and bound by the weight of past decisions. Meera fears repeating her mother's mistakes with her own daughter, Jia. Janki, haunted by her past, must confront painful memories to preserve the family bond. Through their intertwined lives, Pareek unearths how a single tragic event can reverberate through generations, leaving behind scars and, ultimately, a chance for healing.

Neil D’Silva describes the novel as “a compelling emotional saga of a complex mother-daughter relationship. Gripping.” That sentiment rings true throughout the novel. With each letter, the author peels back the emotional layers of his characters, offering readers a raw, honest, and intimate portrait of familial relationships shaped by cultural divides, time, and silence.

Pareek’s writing is poignant and reflective, particularly when he muses:
“Each and every moment we live is like a layer that keeps on getting pushed down as the next one comes over it... Those letters were just a glimpse into our lives, not all of it.”
This line encapsulates the delicate power of the novel—its ability to capture fleeting, painful truths without claiming to offer a complete picture of life’s vast emotional spectrum.

Letters To My Mother also stands out for bringing back the lost art of letter writing, a medium that, as Radhakrishnan Pillai aptly points out, “connects us emotionally... spanning decades and connecting us to a deep mother-daughter relationship.”