The acclaimed and bestselling novelist Anita Rau Badami discusses her latest Asha in Her Garden (Knopf Canada, 2026), with Joseph Planta.

Asha in Her Garden by Anita Rau Badami (Knopf Canada, 2026). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Asha in Her Garden

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.  

Anita Rau Badami joins me now. The acclaimed author recently published her latest novel Asha In Her Garden. The book opens with its central character Asha, arranging to have a maple tree in her back yard removed. It’s reached the end of its life, coinciding with Asha having just turned seventy. Around the tree is also where twenty years ago, she was knocked unconscious by an unsavoury friend of her son. The book illustrates Asha’s life at various points, like the present, twenty years ago, and years prior, like her childhood in India, and then coming to Canada with her husband. At this point in her life, she reexamines herself, the people in her life, whether it’s friends or enemies, or her two children. The book has been lauded as a triumphant return for Anita Rau Badami, who in the fifteen years since her previous book, Tell it To the Trees, has been exploring her creativity as a visual artist. I’ll ask Anita about that and more, including the themes in the book that emerge, family relations, the evolving idea of friendships, and growing older. Anita Rau Badami’s other books Tamarind Men, The Hero’s Walk, and Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? were bestsellers and critically acclaimed. This new book is published by Knopf Canada. We spoke in early August, with Anita joining me from Toronto. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Anita Rau Badami; Ms. Badami, good morning.  

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