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CALLED BY THE HILLS


Published in November 2025


One of The Hindu's Ten Best Books of Non-fiction 2025

Among the "25 books that brought back the joy of reading in 2025"- Mint Lounge

'Anuradha Roy pens an ode to Ranikhet in the Indian Himalayas, which she has called home for years. Her intimate portrait of the town combines poetic descriptions of landscapes with reflections on climate change, alongside her delicate watercolour illustrations' -- One of the Five thought-provoking books that will challenge the way you think, MONOCLE

'I loved this clear, unsentimental but wondrous conjuring of the many seasons of a life spent in the mountains, far away from the self-importance of India’s metros. This is a thoughtful ramble around Ranikhet that brings home the sense of slow time over 25 years, the swing between comedy and tragedy, the austere peaks brooding in the distance. Roy’s superb watercolours are as essential and beautiful as the text', Nilanjana Roy, Hindustan Times, Absolutely the Best Books by Women in 2025

'It is hard to slot this book. It is a memoir; it is an observation. It is a home and garden book, a travelogue, an ode to the mountains. An art book. A book about Kumaon. Perhaps it’s a little of all of these, and profoundly likeable.' Madhulika Liddle, Scroll

'Attention, the rarest form of generosity, is what we owe to nature in the time of the climate catastrophe. Roy shows us how to go about it...Called by the Hills is a beautifully crafted ode to the Himalaya as well as a heartfelt lament for its continuing degradation' Vineetha Mokkil, Outlook

a fascinating, often deeply pleasurable glimpse into a life of letters in the hills of Ranikhet, to which she relocated a few decades ago alongside her husband. It reads, at once, as an account of an unorthodox relocation, a backstage view to the literary sensibilities behind some of Roy’s work, a rumination on the patient, attentive labour of gardening and an elegy to an ecosystem which, like so many others around us, has been left irrevocably transformed by the engine of ecological extraction.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksart/book-review-an-account-of-life-in-the-hills-of-ranikhet-1926581

"What a marvellous thing it is to witness time unfurl in this author’s hands"
Varun Andhare in the Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Chronicle

Anuradha Roy’s latest work offers a fascinating, often deeply pleasurable glimpse into a life of letters in the hills of Ranikhet, to which she relocated a few decades ago alongside her husband. It reads, at once, as an account of an unorthodox relocation, a backstage view to the literary sensibilities behind some of Roy’s work, a rumination on the patient, attentive labour of gardening and an elegy to an ecosystem which, like so many others around us, has been left irrevocably transformed by the engine of ecological extraction.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksart/book-review-an-account-of-life-in-the-hills-of-ranikhet-1926581
a fascinating, often deeply pleasurable glimpse into a life of letters in the hills of Ranikhet, to which she relocated a few decades ago alongside her husband. It reads, at once, as an account of an unorthodox relocation, a backstage view to the literary sensibilities behind some of Roy’s work, a rumination on the patient, attentive labour of gardening and an elegy to an ecosystem which, like so many others around us, has been left irrevocably transformed by the engine of ecological extraction.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksart/book-review-an-account-of-life-in-the-hills-of-ranikhet-1926581
a fascinating, often deeply pleasurable glimpse into a life of letters in the hills of Ranikhet, to which she relocated a few decades ago alongside her husband. It reads, at once, as an account of an unorthodox relocation, a backstage view to the literary sensibilities behind some of Roy’s work, a rumination on the patient, attentive labour of gardening and an elegy to an ecosystem which, like so many others around us, has been left irrevocably transformed by the engine of ecological extraction.

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksart/book-review-an-account-of-life-in-the-hills-of-ranikhet-1926581

'The only flaw in Called By the Hills, Anuradha Roy’s exquisite little memoir of her life in the Himalayas, is that its 188 pages are far too short! I longed for more - the perfectly crafted sentences, the characters (both human and animal), and the sensitive, luminous illustrations. It’s a delight - funny, sad, joyous, and constantly, often unexpectedly, insightful' Laila Tyabji

‘Entrancing, consoling, humorous and wise, Called by the Hills made me melancholy for a place I have never visited, homesick for a house and garden I’ve never known and fondly attached to people I’ve never encountered. I felt as if I held the Himalayas in my hands while I read it’ Chloe Dalton

‘Anuradha Roy’s writing  makes you want to rush to the Himalaya, see the flower valleys and the bold leopards, gossip with the local cowherds, tend the stray dogs and help out in the author’s wayward garden. In every way a beautiful book’ 
Sebastian Faulks

‘I always look forward to the immersive worlds full of light and shadows and colour that Anuradha Roy creates. Luminous and poetic, her words reveal the frailties and desires that make us human, even when 
telling stories on an epic scale’ Kiran Rao 

'Readers familiar with Anuradha Roy books will recognize her steady voice here—clear, observant, and deeply human. The memoir isn’t long, yet it feels layered, as if it’s been shaped by years of careful noticing. In many ways, it’s less about living in the mountains and more about learning to let Himalayan villages become part of your inner map.
Choose this book if you want a slower story—one that leaves a little space around its sentences. Roy writes with the honesty of someone who has lived the seasons, counted the quiet evenings, and learned the hard truths about life in the mountains. She doesn’t gloss over the difficulties, yet she shows how the land slowly builds a steadier version of you.' Booksameya
 
'a compelling account of life in and with the mountains. Anuradha Roy writes in a voice distinct from her fiction—precise, personal, and fluid rather than layered and intricate. Her valley is full of small details and quiet patterns, revealing the mountains as they are and the communities that anchor them in compassion and kindness' Kabir Deb, Asian Review of Books

 

Editions:

India: Hachette

UK: Daunt Books

USA HarperCollins

Spanish: Fjordo

German: Random House

 

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