Tag Archives: India

Aug29

Review: The Space Between Us by Thrifty Umrigar

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Product Details

  • Print Length: 352 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0062067893
  • Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
  • Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
  • ASIN: B000FCKM74
  • Genre:  Fiction

Synopsis:

Poignant, evocative, and unforgettable, The Space Between Us is an intimate portrait of a distant yet familiar world. Set in modern-day India, it is the story of two compelling and achingly real women: Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife whose opulent surroundings hide the shame and disappointment of her abusive marriage, and Bhima, a stoic illiterate hardened by a life of despair and loss, who has worked in the Dubash household for more than twenty years. A powerful and perceptive literary masterwork, author Thrity Umrigar’s extraordinary novel demonstrates how the lives of the rich and poor are intrinsically connected yet vastly removed from each other, and how the strong bonds of womanhood are eternally opposed by the divisions of class and culture.

Poignant, evocative, and unforgettable, The Space Between Us is an intimate portrait of a distant yet familiar world. Set in modern-day India, it is the story of two compelling and achingly real women: Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife whose opulent surroundings hide the shame and disappointment of her abusive marriage, and Bhima, a stoic illiterate hardened by a life of despair and loss, who has worked in the Dubash household for more than twenty years. A powerful and perceptive literary masterwork, author Thrity Umrigar’s extraordinary novel demonstrates how the lives of the rich and poor are intrinsically connected yet vastly removed from each other, and how the strong bonds of womanhood are eternally opposed by the divisions of class and culture.

My Review:

This is story that spans generations, socioeconomic status, difference in generations, and the challenges between genders.  It is an excellent book that kept me interested all the way through.  Thrifty’s writing style is so eloquent, where she finds beauty in the layout of the country, it’s people, and traditions.  I could relate most with Bhima, the housekeeper for Sera’s household and grandmother to Maya.  She reminded me so much of my great-grandmother and I could truly understand the sacrifices she personally makes so that her granddaughter can have a different lifestyle and move from the “slums”.  Both Sera and Bhima come to a decision that will have lifelong consequences.  These consequences will forever change their relationship as they both are the matriarchs of their respective families.

*This book was provided by TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.  No forms of compensation were given.

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