“Books should be about real women; not their idealised version, which the world is obsessed with”

Chirasree Bose is a contemporary thriller writer with popular titles, such as Live with Me Die with Me, Where Love was Sinful, Done with Her, and more, under her belt. Recently, we had a conversation with her, focusing on the aspect of women in books. She had a beautiful and thought-provoking answer to it:

“I believe authors need to write characters that feel real and relatable. This applies to both men and women. Books may be a medium of escape from the real world for many, but that escape doesn’t have to set or meet the world’s unrealistic expectations. Practically, no character is ideal or all-white or all-black. Nor are women. Even a mother can be flawed. So, why not write a book wherein she is? If you ask me, that’d be a massive relief to mothers reading that story. They’re human after all; not God or God-like. It’s the world that is obsessed with making them that.”

So, do you write such characters in your books, although we believe they are primarily crime thrillers? “Sure, I do. Even thrillers have real human characters in them. My books are based in India and submerged in Indian culture. Having grown up here, I know what the expectations from men and women are like. So, while developing my characters, I like to focus on the impact these expectations have on their minds. I feel like it should be talked about. After all, all crimes originate in the mind.”

Chirasree’s refreshing thoughts about women, as well as men and the world, have shaped her books and writing over the years. We’d like to read more from her in the future.