'I have always known that ghosts are among us'

The International Booker Prize-winning translator on writing her first novel

- Chintan Girish Modi

This novel collapses the distinction between the world of the living and that of those who have passed away. What excited you most about this approach?

My mother brought me up to believe in ghosts, and she always behaved as though they were always among us. Her mother, who had been murdered when I was very young, had been seen haunting her old home, according to several people. My stepmother also believes in ghosts, and still speaks of parts of her house that she believes to be haunted, and who she thinks is there. Thus, it was not difficult for me to bridge these worlds because I have always known that the ghosts are among us.

What helped you empathise with Alice's situation as a caregiver to Clare, her mother who is mentally ill?