Published in November 2025 in India by John Murray; in January 2026 by Daunt UK, and in June 2026 by Harper One, USA
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
"What a marvellous thing it is to witness time unfurl in this author’s hands"
"Called
by the Hills is moving, funny and humane, but there is nothing cosy
about it. The book leaves readers in little doubt about the harsh
realities of life in a beautiful but perilous landscape" Robert Hiley, BREATHE
"She does not underline her own material sacrifices. She does not idealise the Himalaya. Instead, she suffuses the book with humour, which bolsters ordinary living...It is a credit to Roy’s skill that she now presents non-fiction in a way that is just as compelling as fiction; that she unearths life’s little truths while resisting the spiel of self-help; that she writes as adeptly about death as she does about the courage of living."
Neha Sinha, The Hindu
"In a camouflaged pouch under the back flap is a secret cache of art, best saved for marking those pages to which we will return over and over. For such is the call of this exceptional memoir', Vikramjit Ram, Biblio
'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
'her book abounds with life and positivity. If it were possible to make someone homesick for a place they have never been, Roy has achieved it. Lyrically written and combining memoir, history, travel and nature writing, this is a testament to both Roy’s talent and the power of a beautiful if brutal place.’
Katharine Spurrier, Daily Mail
"read as literary and visual acts of care, asking what it means
to live attentively in a place that is ancient, fragile and fiercely
alive," Paromita Chakrabarti, Indian Express
"This
is a book of dwelling in and with the mountains: patient, alert,
amused, and increasingly uneasy...Roy treats the hills with seriousness,
not as a flattering backdrop for a city person’s reinvention... In the
end, Called by the Hills becomes a study of attention as a form of moral
practice: it clarifies what close looking can teach as well as what
close looking cannot undo. That clear-eyed restraint is where the book
finds its quiet authority, and its undertow of sadness." Srimoyee Bagchi, Telegraph
"Called
by the Hills is distinguished by its beauty and the sense of
transience. Roy’s watercolour paintings don’t merely accompany the text,
they elevate it. It is rare to find a writer who is as accomplished an
artist....but in her writing, she constantly reminds us about the
ferocity of nature and man’s assault, which has 'wounded' the mountains"
Nandini Nair, Open
'a
thing of quiet beauty amid the muck, a disarming, unflinching piece of
nature/place writing befitting our times ... Roy’s memoir is
painstakingly written and produced, with every word and image present
because it simply must be, every borrowing (plants, artworks, ideas,
words) honoured. When you turn the last page, slowly, reluctantly, it is
hard to say goodbye. W.S. Merwin’s “Separation” (1962) comes to mind:
“Your absence has gone through me/ Like thread through a needle/
Everything I do is stitched with its color"... As horrific climate
disasters from around the world flood our newsfeeds, this sensitively
wrought account of the hills invites us to remember, to read with
attention, to engage with the local realities of our place with
identical perseverance, nuance, stillness, and solidarity.' Akhila Ramnarayan, Frontline
''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
"Called
by the Hills is thus, in a sense, a book about Roy decidedly not
measuring up: to her housekeepers’ ideas of a memsahib, to the world’s
ideas of the writerly life, to her neighbour’s ideas of what a woman
should do (have children and not “wander the hillsides doing nothing”)" Rituparna Roy in Bangalore Review
‘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
