Anisha Lalvani On Girls Who Stray, Writing As Resistance, And The Many Lives Of Stories | The Bookish Gossips

When a writer spends nearly a decade crafting their first novel, you know what emerges is more than just fiction. It is a piece of themselves, shaped slowly with persistence and fire. Anisha Lalvani, the author of Girls Who Stray (Bloomsbury India), embodies that journey. Her debut novel explores anxiety, misogyny, politics, guilt, and the blurred lines between the personal and the collective. Recently, she spoke with The Bookish Gossips about her path as a writer, the evolution of her style, and the life lessons tucked between pages.

The Journey to Becoming a Writer

For Anisha, storytelling has been part of her DNA long before she embraced it as her true calling. Born and raised in Mumbai, she studied English Literature at St. Xavier’s College and later pursued her Master’s at Mumbai University. Those years of immersion in literature laid a foundation not just for her career but for her very way of seeing the world.

Her professional path took her to Delhi, where she worked in publishing and literary events. At Yoda Press, an independent press and bookstore, and later alongside Namita Gokhale at the Jaipur Literature Festival, she witnessed the vibrant yet demanding world of books from behind the scenes. Eventually, she shifted into the development sector, where she continues today in a communications role with a think tank.

But writing remained a constant undercurrent. “Girls Who Stray took me eight years of my life,” she admits. “I procrastinated a lot, but I always knew this was something bigger than me. I had to finish it.” The book became more than just a project. It was a personal reckoning, a sculpting of raw emotions into fiction that others could enter and make their own.

The First Sparks of Writing

When asked what drew her toward writing in the first place, Anisha reflected on her lifelong love for stories. In school, English had always been her strength. Literature, with its narrative layers and creative possibilities, became her anchor. She explained that studying literature forces you to read some of the best writing and think deeply about it. For her, writing is like a conversation. It is a way of speaking back to the great authors she admires, even though they may no longer be alive.

Unlike many who start writing early, Anisha came to it gradually. The true moment of recognition arrived when she saw her name printed under the Bloomsbury logo, holding her finished novel for the very first time. That tangible validation transformed writing from a private pursuit into an identity.

Evolving a Voice

Writers often look back at their early work and cringe at overwrought passages. For Anisha, this evolution was guided not just by self-awareness but by mentorship. She recalls the advice of her friend, author Deepti Kapoor, who urged her to cut down, simplify, and trust clean prose.

That refinement paid off. Readers have praised her style as fresh and unique, a voice that is unafraid to play with language while keeping the narrative sharp. Anisha herself acknowledges that while her fascination with language comes naturally, it still demands effort. When it clicks, the voice just flows out of you without needing to be forced.

Themes That Linger

Every novelist has obsessions, recurring questions and themes that demand exploration. For Anisha, much of Girls Who Stray grapples with the anxieties of the modern world. She is fascinated by the psychic impact of information overload and technology, and the way both shape human lives.

At its core, her book wrestles with patriarchy and misogyny, exposing how deeply ingrained and difficult to unlearn these structures can be. One of the novel’s striking passages juxtaposes a young woman’s personal struggles in a relationship with an older, wealthier man against the backdrop of protests following the horrific Nirbhaya case in Delhi. Through this, Anisha captures the uneasy dance between private pain and collective outrage.

The novel also delves into family dynamics, the intoxicating liberation of travel, and the shadow of guilt tied to crime. It specifically references the real-life horror of the Nithari Noida serial murders. By anchoring her thriller in real-world crimes and protests, she sharpens the urgency of fiction, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable truths.

A Writer in the Making

Although Girls Who Stray marks her debut, Anisha’s gaze is already turned toward future projects. Her next work in progress circles around a woman who witnesses the murder of a maulvi in a masjid, once again drawing from real cases. While progress has been slow, her enthusiasm remains.

She also continues to nourish herself with reading. Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo left a deep mark on her recently, with its delicate portrayal of estranged brothers grieving their father’s death. Anisha admires Rooney’s ability to render the subtleties of human relationships with startling clarity, a skill she herself strives to embody.

Process Between Spontaneity and Structure

Every writer has their rituals or their lack of them. For Girls Who Stray, Anisha’s approach was spontaneous, driven by bursts of inspiration rather than a rigid routine. The downside is that it stretched the writing process across eight long years.

Looking ahead, she hopes to adopt more structure for her second novel. That means daily writing, even if the page resists. Still, she worries about losing the freshness of instinct-driven prose. The balance between discipline and intuition is one she continues to negotiate.

Real Lives and Fictional Lives

“Writing for me is mostly based on what I have experienced, the people I know, the places I have lived in,” she shares. But those experiences rarely make it to the page untouched. Instead, she reshapes them, sculpting reality into something entirely her own. That transformation is the magic of fiction, where raw memory is reimagined into new worlds.

Her characters are born from lived truths but made universal through fiction. That alchemy ensures her work resonates across readers who may never have walked the same streets but recognize the emotions nonetheless.

Lessons from the Page

When reflecting on what writing has taught her about herself, Anisha’s answer is immediate. Permanence. Writing has taught her that she will write her whole life. The thrill of shaping a beautiful sentence is unlike any other pleasure.

But writing has also revealed discipline she did not know she had. The long and painstaking journey of finishing her novel showed her persistence is as vital as talent. And when strangers connect with her work, she feels a sense of kinship that transcends distance and time.

The Reality of an Author’s Life

From the outside, being an author may seem like a glamorous profession. But Anisha stresses the hidden challenges. Balancing a demanding full-time job with writing is exhausting. Financially, too, writing rarely sustains itself. Good writing takes time, she emphasizes, in contrast to the pace of today’s instant world. Patience, kindness, and recognition of the invisible labor behind books are what she wishes readers carried with them.

Feedback and the Push Pull of Editing

No manuscript arrives fully formed. For Anisha, navigating feedback has been a journey in itself. Sometimes, she stood firm against suggested cuts, especially the Delhi section she holds dear. At other times, she willingly trimmed unnecessary passages. Her approach balances instinct with openness, recognizing that editors and agents often sharpen a book while trusting her own vision where it matters most.

Resilience in the Midst of Doubt

Every creative person encounters phases where motivation dips and doubts multiply. For Anisha, survival lies in confidence. Knowing that what she is writing has value, even when the mind resists, keeps her going. She accepts doubt as part of the process but refuses to let it overwhelm her. Instead, she leans on the faith that good writing leads to good writing, a cycle that regenerates motivation.

Life Beyond the Page

Writers live in their heads, but inspiration often comes from the world outside. For Anisha, films, true crime documentaries, and above all books remain her greatest sources of creative fuel. She is currently absorbed in Orbital by Samantha Harvey, a Booker Prize winner she describes as absolutely stunning and poetic. Reading, she insists, is what makes writers into writers.

Closing Reflections

Anisha Lalvani’s journey with Girls Who Stray reminds us that novels are not just stories but lived processes of persistence, self discovery, and resistance. Her work probes into the uncomfortable intersections of crime, gender, and modern life, while her reflections reveal the quiet resilience required to be a writer today.

The novel may have taken eight years, but its resonance is timeless. And as she steps into the uncertain but thrilling terrain of her next project, readers can be certain of one thing. Anisha Lalvani will continue to write, shaping language into spaces where the personal and political collide.

This interview with author Anisha Lalvani, writer of Girls Who Stray, was conducted by Unnati Shahi, founder of The Bookish Gossips.