In her debut novel, Chitra Demands to Go Home, debut novelist Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay explores mother-son relationships, cross-cultural conversations, and the tribulations of getting older. The titular character, Chitra, is a 75-year-old Bengali woman who feels trapped in an assisted living facility and yearns to return home.
Mukhopadhyay earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology and spent years in science communication before turning her attention to fiction. Now, her debut novel is set to be published by Modern Artist Press on May 12, 2026. It is available for pre-order now.
Debutiful is honored to reveal Chitra Demands to Go Home‘s cover, designed by Shreya Gupta, along with a Q&A with Mukhopadhyay and Gupta about its creation.
While writing the book, did you have any ideas for what you wanted the cover to look like?
RM: Not really. I am strictly a words person. I think in words, not visuals. Having said that, I knew the cover had to relay the tension in the novel: a 75-year-old Bengali woman named Chitra who feels trapped in an assisted living facility in Columbus, Ohio and is determined to get back to her home in India. But how to capture that tension visually? I knew to leave it up to the experts.
Can you explain what the design process was like once you started working with your publishing team?
RM: It’s been an incredible process. The whole experience has been rooted in mutual respect and a shared love for the book. My publisher, Kathryn Fay, and the designer, Shreya Gupta collaborated with me so closely to honor the spirit of the book.
Kathryn has an amazing author questionnaire that she asks authors to fill out when they sign with Modern Artist Press. In that questionnaire, Kathryn asks thoughtful, intentional questions about the types of covers the author likes and dislikes; the colors and fonts they prefer; any visual pet peeves; any artists and art forms whose influence should show up in the cover.
Because of those questions, I was able to share that I would love the cover to honor the Bengali art form of the kantha style of embroidery. My paternal great grandmother, who was a talented person in many ways, knew how to do the embroidery so I wanted to give her a nod by using the kantha stitch as a visual element. The embroidery harkens to generations of Bengali traditions and identity, themes that show up in the novel.
I was also able to share that I am not afraid of bold colors and tend to find serif fonts irritating. When we started working with Shreya, I was awestruck by how she was able to pull these multiple threads (pun intended!) to bring forward designs that played with the themes in the book and respected my personal preferences. Her attention to detail and meticulousness are inspiring.
What was it like seeing your finalized cover for the first time?
RM: The cover was so perfect that I burst out laughing when I saw it for the first time. My immediate reaction was 10/10, no notes. As I mentioned, I’m a words person, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions of what the cover ought to look like. I was open to surprise and the surprise Shreya delivered absolutely delighted me.
As we discussed the cover design and some additional options, I did provide one note: I suggested that Chitra’s shoes be changed from the original design to the pink Crocs that she begrudgingly wears.
How does the cover work to convey what the book is all about?
RM: Chitra’s frustration and general orneriness come through in the colors and the artistic rendition of her. Her longing for home and a familiar world is captured by the kantha detail in the letters. Chitra’s shoes nod to one of the many things she hates about her circumstances. The trailing threads from the wheelchair also point to a key moment in the plot. And as I hoped, the cover captures the essential conflict embodied by the novel.
What was your approach when designing this cover specifically?
SG: The story is about a 75-year-old Bengali woman who feels trapped in an assisted living facility and wants to go back home to India. But at the same time, she does not realize all of what her sons are providing for her is meant to take care of her. The story is quite humorous, and there were parts where I actually laughed out loud. So along with focusing on Chitra, I also wanted to capture the humor on the cover.
One of the requests from the author was to illustrate the cover in a certain Bengali embroidery style called kantha stitch. We also wanted to make sure that the title was big on the cover. So I worked around those ideas and tried showing Chitra’s determination to go home, while also keeping the illustration humorous. I presented a few options for the first round that included a painting that Chitra painted in one of her sip-and-paint classes at the facility that reminded her of her childhood. Another option showed her throwing a tantrum, which she often did in the story. And the third one illustrated Chitra in a wheelchair, looking ready to go. This was done in the kantha stitch style.
Illustrating in the embroidery style was very new to me, so I had to practice a bit before doing the illustration. I looked at a lot of embroidery images and the kantha stitch style to understand how the stitches looked in 2D. Having done a little embroidery in the past certainly helped. Also, the way people are stitched in this style is very simplified and a little cartoonish. So illustrating Chitra in this style was quite interesting and fun. I also included patterns in the wheels and the ground to allude to India. Chitra is shown in one of her favorite pink dresses from the story. I also set the title in the same embroidery style to tie the type and illustration together.
After reviewing the first round, we decided to go ahead with Chitra in the wheelchair. We decided to make a few edits including adding the pink Crocs that you see her wearing in the final cover and also showing the threads unraveling from the wheel that form the words “a novel”. This was to hint at how Chitra’s plans keep falling apart despite her determination.
I always try to design covers that look unique in some way. I think the final cover of Chitra Demands to Go Home looks unique in terms of the illustration style and at the same time gives us a glimpse of the story visually.