SONIA FALEIRO
A Way With Words
Savouring the success of her recent release, The Girl, debutante novelist, Sonia Faleiro, recalls a childhood filled with books: "When I turned three, my mother, Muriel, gave me a collection of abridged classics." That perfect gift sparked a lasting affair with the printed word.
Born in Goa and studied in Delhi, the 28-year-old journo-author did her M Sc in Nation Writing Culture from the University of Edinburgh. "That's where The Girl was born," says Sonia. "Working on my thesis for long hours in the library, I would take frequent breaks, giving vent to my creativity. Being away from home made me a little melancholic which is why my novel is coloured by the effect of the immediate environment, my mood swings and memories of home," she asserts, even as she denies any overt autobiographical overtones in her creation. "Though my mother passed away in a car accident -The Girl has a similar episode - writing for me was not a cathartic experience."
Sonia, now comfortably settled in her own apartment in central Mumbai, relishes her work as a freelance writer and columnist. Next on the anvil is the soon-to-be-published short story, The Stupid, a collection of non-fiction writing and perhaps, yet another novel. "I keep my real life reporting job and fiction in two distinct categories," says the girl, who does have a way with words.