Namita Gokhale's books are much loved and lead themselves to become bestsellers amongst Indian and international readers. The Blind Matriarch is a novel set during the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows Matangi-Ma, a blind grandmother living on the top floor of a bustling multi-generational family home. When the national lockdown forces everyone indoors, the family must confront personal conflicts, old secrets, and inner truths. The designer of the cover, Ahlawat Gunjan, commissioned Lavanya to do the embroidery for the cover. In his words explaining the choice of embroidery as a technique - "Going back to this age-old technique in image creation wasn't just a tribute, but also an attempt to evoke the sentiments inspired by a protagonist that belongs to a bygone era. Furthermore, it was thrilling to adopt an approach that doesn’t complicate and conceal, and instead, engages and illuminates."
This work was commissioned by Penguin Random House India.
