Living far from the madding crowds in the cantonment town of Ranikhet in the Kumaon Himalayas that provides her solitude, vit’s hard to believe” the number of distant readers her books have found, says Anuradha Roy, whose novel, “All The Lives We Never Lived” has been shortlisted for the 100,000 euros (Rs 86 lakh) International Dublin Literary Award 2020, the world’s richest for a single work of fiction published in English.

“I’ve been writing ever since I could form words. It’s always been something I need to do,” Roy told IANS in an interview, adding: “Living and writing in a remote Himalayan town, it’s hard to believe the number of faraway readers the books have found. That is the most gratifying thing about prize lists.” “We moved here (to Ranikhet) 20 years ago and our daily interactions are with our three dogs and our neighbours who are mostly from the neighbouring villages. It is because both my partner and I need solitude and open spaces that we live here,” Roy elaborated.

It is this solitude that has seen Roy author four novels—“An Atlas of Impossible Longing” (2008), “The Folded Earth” (2011), “Sleeping on Jupiter” (2015) and “All The Lives We Never Lived” (2018).