-Bhima's thoughts at her daughter's funeral
This was the first Page Turners selection made by someone other than me in quite a while. I thought the writing was beautiful and the story compelling. I gave it a rating of 5 but the group average was 3.7. A couple of members rated it a 2. It wasn't exactly an enjoyable read but for me it was a page-turner.
The story is set in Bombay and revolves around two women of different classes and circumstances. Bhima is the hired servant of Sera. Bhima is the guardian of her granddaughter and Sera, a widow, is living with her daughter and son-in-law who are expecting a baby. From this point of the story, both Bhima and Sera frequently flashback to their courtships and early marriages giving the reader insight into their behaviors. Suffice it to say, neither marriage turns out as planned and neither woman has a "perfect life."
I want to avoid any spoilers so many of my comments will be general. As I mentioned I thought Umrigar's writing was excellent, often profound, sometimes poetic. Her use of Indian words and phrases made the setting seem more authentic to me though it was a challenge. (see the quote) Some readers in our group were put off by that. In the dialogue there was the use of rhyming pairs or doubling of words quite often, e. g. hard-hard, money-foney, big-big, bhola-bhala, friends-schends. Odd, but interesting.
The relationships with mother-in-laws reminded me of my own. My husband's mother told me years ago that her mother-in-law was quite hateful to her and she had vowed, as a result, to be a kinder, gentler one when her sons married. She was true to her word, a wonderful mother-in-law! It also came to me how blessed I am to be an educated, liberated American woman with many options for my life!
If you want a fun read, this one might not be for you but I am glad I read it!
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