Motherhood, Mystery, and Agency: Chital Mehta's Have You Seen Romit?

In this episode, I chat with Chital Mehta about her literary mystery Have You Seen Romit?

Listen to hear all about:

• How motherhood, an MFA, and a lifelong love of reading led Chital to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist.
• The real-life missing-person article that inspired Have You Seen Romit? and why shifting the story's focus from a father to a mother changed everything.
• How adoption, sibling resentment, and parental expectations, create the complicated challenge of loving your children equally.
• How Usha's search for her missing son becomes a journey of self-discovery, challenging patriarchal traditions and finding agency later in life.
• The extensive research, discarded drafts, alternate endings, and character development that helped Chital turn a missing-person mystery into a deeply human family drama.

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor