We are reading the book in installments and will post about it each Thursday during July. Having started the book, however, I doubt I will be able to read it in installments - I am completely engrossed and may have to just read right through it!
In the first 6 chapters, we meet Bhima - a woman living in a Bombay slum who works as a servant for an affluent family. Bhima's granddaughter, Maya, is a young adult who is pregnant and unmarried much to her grandmother's shame. So far, we have been given glimpses into their lives in the slum and the strain in the relationship brought on by Maya's pregnancy which Bhima feels both shames her and means Maya will squander her opportunity at an education and ultimately better life outside of the slum.
We also meet Sera, the matriarch of the family for whom Bhima works. Thus far, her character and those of her daughter and son-in-law are not well developed but the ground is being laid for a more in depth examination of that family. Right now, we see the relationship between high class Sera and her servant Bhima. There is an inherent tension between the two as they struggle to reconcile what seems to be a genuine likeness for each other with their stations in life. I can see how "The Space Between Us" represents the "space" between each woman's class in society - Bhima even takes her tea on the floor while Sera sits at the table creating a physical space between. I wonder if the title will symbolize more as I read on further.
If you are interested in reading the book (and thus far I heartily recommend this one) stop by Lit and Life and sign-up. For more thoughts on the book, stop by the blogs of the other participants:
Ti at Book Chatter
Dar at Peeking Between The Pages
Staci at Life In The Thumb
Kathy at Mommy's Reading
Bailey at The Window Seat Reader
Mari at Bookworm With A View
Stopping by for the readalong! I agree, putting this one off from week to week will be a challenge.
ReplyDeleteWe may all end up plowing through the book and then just making our weekly posts already knowing what will happen next. I hadn't wanted to put too much more reading on anyone but then I hadn't realized how great this was going to be. Which is crazy because the whole reason I wanted to read it is because it was supposed to be so great!
ReplyDeleteI really want to join this read-a-thon but I already joined The Brothers Karamzov and I don't think I can handle two at once. I will definitely consider it though!
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