Book Review: Thorns in My Quilt by Mohua Chinappa

Team Kitaab reviews Thorns in My Quilt by Mohua Chinappa (Rupa Publications, 2024)

Thorns in My Quilt by Mohua Chinappa is a deeply evocative hybrid memoir that blurs the lines between personal remembrance and epistolary confession. Structured as a series of letters to her late father, the book invites readers into the intimate chambers of loss, longing, betrayal, and reconciliation. In tone and structure, it is both a eulogy and a therapeutic outpouring, shaped by memory and emotional dualities.

At its heart, Thorns in My Quilt is not merely a daughter’s tribute. It is a confrontation. Mohua portrays her father, lovingly referred to as Baba, not through the lens of idealization but with honesty that is often raw and unflinching. He is “as kind as he was cruel, as well-read as he was unworldly,” a man of paradoxes. This candid portrayal elevates the narrative, allowing the memoir to transcend sentimentality and instead offer a mature, nuanced meditation on the complexities of parent-child relationships.