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The Space Between Us Thrity Umrigar Books

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The Space Between Us Thrity Umrigar Books

This was a compelling novel that held my interest throughout. It was disturbing and frustrating alike. Disturbing because the women in this novel are subservient and beholden to men, and all the men are mean and entirely self-serving. Frustrating because the main character, an old, illiterate woman who lives in a Bombay slum with her granddaughter, lacks any confidence and self-worth. The elderly Bhima works as a servant for Sera; both women and their respective marriages are fascinating. Their characters are very well articulated. I could (almost) always guess how each one would react to something based on how well their natures were explained. Thrity Umrigar writes brilliantly and sensually. A very powerful novel.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Space Between Us (9780060791568): Thrity Umrigar: Books,Thrity Umrigar,The Space Between Us,Harper Perennial,006079156X,Contemporary Women,Cultural Heritage,Master and servant;Fiction.,Upper class women;Fiction.,Women domestics;Fiction.,ASIAN AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,FICTION Cultural Heritage,FICTION Family Life General,FICTION General,FICTION Women,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-General,GENERAL,General Adult,India,Master and servant,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),POPULAR AMERICAN FICTION,United States,Upper class women,Women domestics

The Space Between Us Thrity Umrigar Books Reviews

I am having a hard time reviewing this book because it was really well written with believable but not necessarily likable characters, one poor and the other wealthy They consisted of the maid and her employer, and their respective husbands, children and grandchildren. The authhor did a wonderful job intertwining their lives. What made it difficult for me was the vocabulary, the idioms and "India-speak." It detracted from the flow of the story for me. The story was also difficult to read because it is so very sad and the space between the castes is enormous. Unlike other readers, I didn't predict the ending for the servant but admit that I hated it. I felt like the story just petered out with no redemption or improvement in anyone's life.

I'm happy that I read it but I doubt that I'll read another book by this author though she is very well known and highly respected. It's just not my cup of tea.
Very easy to enjoy! It was fascinating to read about people and life in India. I could literally hear the people's voices (thinking of Indian friends that I know in the US) and phrasing in my mind as I read this book. The story was dramatic and thought-provoking - my book club had a long discussion about the issues represented. At times, I did not enjoy the sequence (forward backward forward etc) of the writing, but it wasn't a serious problem. It's a book that I plan to keep.
This is a dark tale that reveals the horror of life as lived by women and children caught in a world where they are cherished less than nothing except as objects to be used by those who have more power. I put the book down because it was dark, but I picked it back up because I had hope that something good would come. I think this is not the reality of those who have nothing and cannot believe that this is all there is. The poor of India are not so different from those in other countries. The mixing of wealthy classes with the poor was the setting. Women who could’ve helped women less fortunate did not get involved because their men had to be pleased. One wealthy woman who loved her poor housekeeper through the years ends up turning her out to the wolves because she thought she was actually a better human and she supported her son in law who was a lout. The novel concludes with a two page ending describing an old, arthritic heroine as finding freedom as she buys balloons. I found the ending to be disappointing because all through this book, it seemed to be the author’s intent that, Abhima, coming from her lower caste had no choices when it came to providing food and shelter for herself and her granddaughter except to take the crumbs of injustice that fell from a wealthy woman. It seemed the reader dropped off the ledge of desperation to an ethereal cloud of hope. The ending was anticlimactic. However, I gave a four star rating because the conditions of women with or without children are repeated the world over though with differing opinions conditions. The battle today to bring abusive men to task is the same and women should support women, but it cannot be done without the support of good men. Some countries have made more progress than others. This is a universal theme.
This story focuses on three women in India and the caste system.

The reader is quickly made aware that the young teenage granddaughter, Maya, is pregnant out of wedlock and lives with her grandmother, Bhima. No one knows who the father is. Through her pregnancy, which is considered a big problem, the author takes you on a journey through the struggles of different classes in India are revealed-- Bhima retells the story of her life through the challenges of poor social status. While Sera, a high class elite that Bhima works for, experiences her own conflicts within her life as a result of endogamy. Then there is Maya, who has to decide between education or work shortly after her abortion.

I have never experienced such detailed writing before reading Thrity Umrigar's. She has a gift for manipulating words and language that you will not experience with anyone else.

Note-This novel entails physical abuse, abortion, alcoholism, rape, and other topics that would be recommended only for mature readers.
The Space Between Us is the story of two women, their families, their loves, their heartbreaks and their division by class. Bhima is a servant to Sera, and while they have become friends in a sense, they will always be divided by class, and family will always top friendship.

I wanted to dislike both Bhima and Sera for their actions (Bhima to her granddaughter, Maya, and Sera to Bhima), but its hard to dislike them after reading their true thoughts in the next sentence.

I really enjoyed this book and purchased it to read before the sequel, The Secrets Between Us.
This was a compelling novel that held my interest throughout. It was disturbing and frustrating alike. Disturbing because the women in this novel are subservient and beholden to men, and all the men are mean and entirely self-serving. Frustrating because the main character, an old, illiterate woman who lives in a Bombay slum with her granddaughter, lacks any confidence and self-worth. The elderly Bhima works as a servant for Sera; both women and their respective marriages are fascinating. Their characters are very well articulated. I could (almost) always guess how each one would react to something based on how well their natures were explained. Thrity Umrigar writes brilliantly and sensually. A very powerful novel.