Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

If there's one thing I love, it's Indian authors - Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, and now, Thrity Umrigar. Indian authors, as a rule, tend to write really depressing literature with such a light and humorous tone that it makes reading about poverty and slums much more palatable (and I don't feel like slitting my wrists afterwards). The Space between us is a tale of 2 women of opposing social classes. Bhima (an uneducated grandmother who lives in the slums) works endless hours as a servant to Sera (a upper-middle class housewife), though the two have more of a friend-friend relationship than boss-underling one. Over the course of the novel, Umrigar details the personal histories of both women (who have helped each other equally over the years) and ultimately, the two share more than one would think. The climax of the novel is shocking, but ends on an unexpectedly cheerful note.

Though I'm not a fan of short stories, I enjoyed Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake as well. There was a blurb on the back of this book saying that Lahiri has a gift of using simple language to create heartbreaking characters and quite honestly, that's the reason why I've really liked all of her works. Unaccustomed Earth is no different - a series of short stories/novellas about Indians living in America and their problems/experiences combining their Americanized culture with that of their ancestry. The second part of the book has a series of related stories linking two characters (Hema and Kaushik) and their lives together and apart. The only problem I had with this book was that I could predict the manipulative ending about 10 pages away. Usually I'm not good at that. This book is fabulous and awesome and amazing and depressing (but in a good way). Everyone should read everything by Lahiri. Case Closed.