The Space Between Us: (Harper Perennial Deluxe Editions)

"This is a story intimately and compassionately told against the sensuous background of everyday life in Bombay." --Washington Post Book World "Bracingly honest." --New York Times Book Review A beautifully designed Harper Perennial Deluxe Edition of Thrity Umrigar's critically acclaimed and bestselling novel--a luminous, unforgettable story of honor, tradition, class, gender, and family set in modern-day India. The Space Between Us 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, 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. It is a story that echoes the timeless intensity of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible--a quintessential triumph of modern literary fiction.

About the Author :
Thrity Umrigar is the author of seven novels Everybody's Son, The Story Hour, The World We Found, The Weight of Heaven, The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and Bombay Time; a memoir, First Darling of the Morning; and a children's picture book, When I Carried You in My Belly. A former journalist, she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard and was a finalist for the PEN Beyond Margins Award. A professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, she lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Review :
"Umrigar is a perceptive and often piercing writer." - New York Times Book Review "Out of India's seething hotch-potch of humanity Thrity Umrigar has created two vivid female characters, each representative of thousands of real-life Indian women.... At the heart of this novel is the symbiotic relationship--the essence of distance and intimacy--between Sera and Bhima which, after 20 years, remains defined by their differing class, education and wealth.... This ultimately tragic story is told against the vibrant backdrop of modern Mumbai.... The book's pages glow with descriptions of the city.... [Umrigar] tackles, across the span of her characters' lives, many of the issues affecting India today: poverty engendering poverty; the power of privilege and wealth; domestic violence; class; education; women's rights; AIDS. This adds richness, making The Space Between Us far more than an analysis of fate and a portrait of the bonds of womanhood. It is also a powerful social commentary on the glorious and frustrating jigsaw puzzle that is modern India." - The Economist "[The Space Between Us] is a great book; I love it.... I couldn't stop reading until Bhima had her amazing epiphany of freedom at the edge of the sea. I am so happy for Thrity Umrigar! And proud of her as a woman, too.... It is so precious to have a book about a woman one rarely even "sees" in society, whether Indian or American." - Alice Walker on THE SPACE BETWEEN US "Umrigar is a perceptive and often piercing writer.... Her portrait of Sera as a woman unable to transcend her middle-class skin feels bracingly honest." - New York Times Book Review "The Space Between Us is a novel that is hard to forget." - The Times (London) "Umrigar's imagery, gorgeous yet unflinching in its realism, creates a rich picture of Indian society in Bombay, from slum to skyscraper. Her symbolism is lovely." - Charlotte Observer "A deeply affecting novel about a wealthy widow and her maid, who form a bond across the gulfs of class and status in modern-day Bombay." - Life magazine "[The Space Between Us] is provocative and disturbing." - Boston Globe "Intimately and compassionately told.... Sensuous.... Umrigar's memorable characters will live on for a long time." - Frances Itani, Washington Post Book World "Umrigar's schematic novel illustrates the intimacy, and the irreconcilable class divide, between two women in contemporary Bombay.... Umrigar's writing achieves clarity." - Publishers Weekly "Umrigar is a highly skilled storyteller...the novel's plot and depth of characterisation provide irresistible momentum." - Time Out New York "Sadness suffuses this eloquent tale, whose heart-stopping plot twists reveal the ferocity of fate." - Booklist (starred review) "Heartbreaking.... A subtle, elegant analysis of class and power... that quietly roars against tyranny." - Kirkus Reviews "Poignant." - Entertainment Weekly "With humanity and suspense, novelist Thrity Umrigar tackles love, loyalty, injustice - and survival." - Marie Claire "From page one, Thrity Umrigar's novel thrusts us into a story that's at once heartbreaking and soothing. Chronicling the tumultuous lives of two women, The Space Between Us doesn't flinch from its scrutiny of human suffering; then it gently, gently guides us toward healing." - Samrat Upadhyay, author of The Royal Ghosts