The World We Found by Thrity Urmigar

The World We Found by Thrity Urmigar centers on four women - Laleh, Nishita, Armaiti and Kavita - who attended university together and were very close at that point in their lives.  Circumstances, as they often do, have intervened in the years since university to put distance between the four friends.  When Armaiti is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she wants the friends together again so they plan a trip to her current home in the United States to be with their friend in her time of need.  The road to this reunion reveals much about each of the women and puts one of them in a position to challenge the life she has chosen.

Laleh, Nishita, Armaiti and Kavita were passionate in college and participated in protests for socialist and humanitarian causes.  They were very close and completely aligned, or so they thought, in their beliefs.  Following college, the four women went in different directions.  Laleh married her college boyfriend who is now a successful businessman; he and Laleh lead an affluent life in Bombay even though Laleh at times bristles against the materialism in their lifestyle.  Armaiti ran off to America and married a man there from whom she is now divorced despite their amicable relationship and shared adoration of their teenage daughter, Diane.  Even though she has connected little with her past in India - to the point that her daughter Diane knows very little about that part of her Mom’s life- she is compelled to reach out to her friends for one final reunion when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Kavita is a successful architect but hiding the fact that she is lesbian.  Despite her and her friends’ very modern sensibilities, Kavita worries about being accepted in a society which is still so traditional in many ways.  

Finally, Nishita has perhaps the most interesting story of the four women.  Like Laleh, she has married her college boyfriend Iqbal.  He has, however, changed dramatically since university and has embraced his Muslim faith and customs in a way her never did during their more progressive college years.  He has imposed these strict customs on his wife and she has sacrificed much for her life with him.  She has been completely cut off from her family and even given up her name - she is now known as Zohar. Laleh and Kavita are determined to find her so she can join the reunion but finding her, although challenging, turns out to be easiest part of this journey. Zohar does not enjoy the freedoms taken for granted by her friends and will not be allowed by Iqbal to travel to the US even if they can provide the funds to pay for travel.  They are appalled by the changes they see in their friend and are committed to making sure she comes with them on this trip to Armaiti.  Zohar is ambivalent about making the trip  - on the one hand, she is thrilled at the prospect of reuniting with her friends and with the woman she once was but on the other hand she is terrified to challenge Iqbal and to leave a life she has become accustomed to even though she is very dissatisfied.

My Thoughts
I LOVED this book. The writing is spectacular but very accessible and Urmigar brings modern India to life through her characters in a way few other authors can do. By introducing you to these four women, Urmigar also introduces you to segments of Indian society and in covering their history she covers the history of India.  All the while, you are immersed in the lives of these characters and the history and sociology just become backdrops to the story.  They give the story relevance and ground it in reality.

I read this book quickly - I kept turning pages to see what what happen next on the journey to the reunion.  There is suspense as the women conspire to get Zohar out from under her husband and his family which adds to the pace of the story.  I am now a confirmed Thrity Urmigar fan - I knew I liked the author after reading The Space Between Us (my review) and I was not disappointed with her  newest.  My advice - READ IT!

Read a Long: The Space Between Us - Final Installment

Lisa from Lit and Life has hosted "Thrity Thursdays" aka a readalong of The Space Between Us by Thrity Urmigar.  This is week the final week of the read a long - I missed posting the last 2 weeks due to some craziness at work and I have to admit that read straight through the book after week 2 because I was enjoying it so much!  My first two posts are here and here.

In the first part of the book, Urmigar sets up each character giving the reader a picture of who they are today while providing brief glimpses into the pasts that created them.  We meet Bhima, see hardships she endures daily and feel her disappointment and frustration with her granddaughter Maya who has dropped out of university due to an unexpected pregnancy.  We also meet Sera, for whom Bhima serves as a housekeeper and cook; she is a proud, self-contained woman but it is clear there is much beneath the surface.   In addition to presenting these two characters, Urmigar begins to demonstrate the "space" between them - both literal (floor versus chair; slum versus highrise) and metaphorical (high versus low class, educated vs. uneducated).

In the last half of the book,  the pasts of each of these characters unfold and we learn how they have been shaped by their experiences as young women.  Their stories unfold rather quickly in the last half of the book and we learn that although these women are at very different stations in society they have both suffered in their own ways and been deeply hurt by those they most love.  Loss and betrayal is the great equalizer for these women.  I did feel, however, that Bhima's losses were more tragic.  With limited resources, she seemed less equipped to recover from what befalls her.  In addition, she was betrayed by her husband but also by society when she was taken advantage of due to her lack of education.  The deck seemed so stacked against her and I found the inevitability of her fate due to the class into which she was born very grim.

Urmigar is a talented writer - this book was beautifully written with excellent character development - while still being easy to read.   I will certainly be reading more by this author!

Readalong of "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Urmigar

Lisa from Lit and Life is hosting "Thrity Thursdays" aka a readalong of The Space Between Us by Thrity Urmigar.  This is week two of the readalong (check out my post for week 1 here) and we are covering Chapters 7-12

The stories of Bhima and Sera's lives unfold in these chapters.  We are taken back to each woman's younger self when each were first married.  As we learn more about each woman's life, we are also given insight into each woman's mostly private suffering.  Sera's husband, Feroz, was physically and emotionally abusive - there is one scene that was hard to read because Feroz's rage was so intense and I could almost feel Sera's fear of him and anguish that she had married a man that would treat her that way.  We are also given glimpses into Bhima's younger life - interestingly she and her husband seem to be enjoying their young married life, despite their meager means, but betrayal is foreshadowed - I am anxious to read on and see what happens with Bhima's husband. 

In addition to the stories of these two women, the novel also provides glimspes of life in contemporary Mumbai.  Scenes of the slums and the markets are vivid.  I visited India in January - my friends and I took a 2 week tour through North India and finished our trip in Mumbai.  On the way into the city, we stopped at a slum in which most of the residents provide laundry service to households and businesses throughout the city.  I included two photos below because when I read descriptions of the slum in which Bhima and Maya live I  think of this scene. 

If you are interested in reading the book stop by Lit and Life and sign-up for the readalong.  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

In addition, Swapna at S. Krishna's Books is hosting a giveaway for 4 of Thrity Urmigar's books and The Space Between Us is one of them! 

Readalong of "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Urmigar

Lisa from Lit and Life is hosting "Thrity Thursdays" aka a readalong of The Space Between Us by Thrity Urmigar.  I had this book on my shelf and was excited by the opportunity to read and discuss it with the group. 

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!

Chapters 1-6
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