Piu DasGupta on The Golden Monkey Mystery and books for kids set in India

We are delighted to welcome Piu DasGupta, author of The Golden Monkey Mystery, to the blog with an exclusive Q&A about the book. Set in the lush Indian jungle, this thrilling magical animal adventure follows Roma’s daring quest through danger, secrets, and acts of courage. We loved sharing this brilliant book with our Cockatoo subscribers this month and creating fun activities to bring the story to life. Dive into this insightful conversation to learn more about the inspirations behind the story, the real-life influences, and what young readers can take away from Roma’s unforgettable journey.

What inspired you to write The Golden Monkey Mystery?

I loved jungle adventures as a child, especially the saga of Rama and Sita and their escapades with the monkey god Hanuman, in the Indian epic the Ramayana.  I also loved fairytales, with their dark and mysterious forest settings, and the magical landscape of the forest in the plays of Shakespeare.  I was especially drawn to the idea of the forest as a place of adventure, challenge, and personal transformation.  Years later, those childhood memories sparked back to life and became… The Golden Monkey Mystery!

Are any of the characters or events based on real people and their experiences?

Yes!  The story of Roma and her struggles to get into the (fictional) Bengal Medical College are heavily influenced by the story of Kadambini Ganguly (1861 – 1923), who was the first Bengali woman to officially qualify as a doctor in British India.  The true account of Kadambini’s struggles to be accepted to train as a doctor are unbelievable.  For example, the arguments made by Roma’s father at the end of the book, as to why Roma should not follow this path – including that male students would not be able to concentrate if there were women in the lecture hall –were real objections made at the time, to women entering the profession!  Like Roma, Kadambini was driven by a desire to help Indian women, who for religious and cultural reasons would often refuse to see a male doctor.  She was a woman of amazing courage and resilience, and I wanted to pay tribute to her in this book.

What impact would you say Birala has on the choices Roma makes? How do you think she would fare without him?

 

This is such an interesting and perceptive question!  We are never entirely clear if Birala the cat is really speaking to Roma, or whether she is imagining it – and the ambiguity is entirely intentional.  At the beginning of the book Birala is very proactive, constantly making suggestions and recommendations as to how Roma is to act.  But as we progress through the story, he talks to Roma less and less, finally stopping talking to her altogether.  This progression is intended to reflect Roma’s increasing independence and self-confidence.  She starts the book as a lonely, friendless pupil at Miss Oliphant’s, frustrated at her inability to pursue her chosen course in life.  By the end of the book, she has forged new relationships and has a much clearer idea of her goals and objectives.  She therefore needs Birala less.  The changing role of Birala reflects her own personal growth and maturity.  At the same time, I was influenced in the creation of Birala’s character by a long and distinguished line of literary talking cats – from the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to the cat in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.

 

What do you hope young readers will take away from the story?

 

This is such a difficult question, because no two reading experiences are the same.  I suppose I hope the same as with any novel I write:  I want readers to be first swept up with the story, invested in the characters and the adventure.  They need to care about what happens to the characters, and want to know the outcome.  But then – when the book is closed – the thinking time starts, what I call the “afterlife” of the book.  This is what makes the difference between a book that’s a good story, but which you forget about after reading it, and the one that nags you with questions and afterthoughts.  The book that won’t let you go, demands that you try to untangle the meaning, knocks on the door of your dreams, demands perhaps to be re-read and mulled over.  That’s the ultimate goal of every book I write.

 

Can you tell us anything about what the future holds for Roma?

Well, Roma is the mother of Zélie, the main character in the next book in the chronological cycle, Secrets of the Snakestone.  I don’t want to give any spoilers here, but if you read that book, you will find out quite a lot about what happens to Roma!  Hopefully there will also be more books in the cycle, weaving back and forth in time but exploring similar key themes, and always with the shimmering, cursed menace of the Snakestone at their heart.

Why did you choose to write books for this age group?

I particularly like writing for this age group because middle grade books can be enjoyed by adults and children alike (and the best books are).  Also, when I look back to the books I loved reading as a child, most of them were for this age group: Jacqueline Wilson, the Narnia books.  You can also be much freer and more adventurous in children’s writing than writing for adults: you can mix and match genres, styles, truth and fantasy!  The only rule is to keep the reader’s attention.

Do you have a favourite place to write?

I live in Paris, France where there are a lot of cafés.  They are my favourite places to write.  Writing is a lonely profession, but at a café with a coffee and my laptop, I can listen to the hum of voices and the buzz of the coffee machines.  The background noise somehow seems to release a trigger in my brain.  My best sentences are always written in cafés!

Which other middle grade books set in India would you recommend our subscribers read next?

There are so many exciting books written by British authors of Indian or Bangladeshi origin, which take the traditional adventure story to new places and challenge the conventions of the colonial narrative.  Jasbinder Bilan’s Tamarind and the Star of Ishta explores many similar themes of identity to The Golden Monkey Mystery, from a shimmering Himalayan setting.  Books set in an alternate India with vivid settings and subtle exploration of colonial themes include City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, the Dream Hunters series by Nazima Pathan (the second one is out this February!), and The Voyage of Sam Singh by Gita Ralleigh (this one also stars a talkative parrot like Bakabaka!).  For a poetic take on contemporary India, there is the haunting Bringing Back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari.

Copies of our The Golden Monkey Mystery pack, including a copy of the book and loads of fun activities to go with it, are now available for individual purchase. Grab a copy while stocks last!