The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

The Space Between is the story of two families who have been tied together for many years, yet live completely separate lives. Bhima is a servant who leaves her home in the slums of Bombay every morning to spend her day cooking and cleaning for an upper class family. Sera is the seemingly fortunate woman she works for who is hiding the fact she is in an abusive marriage. These two women spend the majority of each day together and have shared much of their lives, yet there is a barrier that can’t be crossed.

Sera has often used her family’s wealth and position to help Bhima through hard times, and has even promised to contribute money for Bhima’s granddaughter, Maya, to attend college. Bhima hopes are focused on Maya. She believes if Maya succeeds in college she will pull the family out of the slums forever. All of Bhima’s savings and sacrifices are threatened, though, when Maya turns up pregnant at 17. When Bhima turns to Sera for help once again, their fragile relationship is changed forever.

This novel gives a glimpse into a society which was difficult for me to understand. Sera seems to both care for Bhima and be repulsed by her at the same time. She gladly helps her when she can, but she will not allow Bhima to sit on her furniture or drink from her glasses. She is happy with the relationship the way it is and can’t cope with any changes that might come.

Umrigar’s writing is beautiful and I liked most of the characters even if I sometimes didn’t agree with what they chose to do. This book was also one of my book club’s favorite selections. It made for a great discussion.

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Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris

This mystery set in Saudi Arabia doesn’t skim over the differences between our two cultures.  In fact, the author’s description of how both men and women must carefully live their daily lives among the strict religious edicts is a fascinating and critical part of the story.

When a young girl from a wealthy family is found dead in the desert, the family asks Nayir al-Sharqi to discreetly investigate.  Nayir is a Palestinian so he is an outsider in Saudi Arabia, yet he is an experienced desert tracker.  He is also a very conservative Muslim and struggles when he is forced to work with Katya Hijazi, a modern Saudi woman who works in medical examiner’s office.  Katya is engaged to one of the family and is present at the autopsy of young Nouf.  The shocking revelation that Nouf died from drowning before being buried in the desert turns the investigation into a murder inquiry.  Worse yet, Nouf was pregnant and unmarried.

Nayir and Katya’s investigation is a struggle because the wealthy family of Nouf does not wish their business to be known to everyone.  In addition, because of the laws of Saudi Arabia, Nouf’s life was very restricted and spent mostly within the family compound. This means they are investigating the family itself, their employees, and Nouf’s fiancée.

The mystery in this story is just as interesting as the details about the religious laws of Saudi Arabia.  Both of the main characters are believable and sympathetic.  Nayir’s initial reaction to Katya, who speaks directly to him and not through her male boss, is somewhat shocking.  But as they work together their relationship changes, as does Nayir’s thinking about some traditions.  The author was able to paint a realistic picture of modern Saudi Arabia without being judgmental or critical.  I highly recommend this to fans of international mysteries, or anyone who might be curious about life in culture very different from ours.

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White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Are we ruled by fate or chance?  White Teeth is a funny and unusual look at race relations in London which raises this question repeatedly.  It begins with one character’s failed attempt at suicide, which leads to his meeting his second wife, who is almost 30 years younger and half a foot taller than him.  The rest of the story rambles through decades describing decisions which are made purposely or by merely tossing a coin.  All of these choices change the course of someone’s entire life in unexpected ways.

The main characters at the heart of this novel are two men who served together in WWII, one Muslim from Bangladesh and one British.  Their friendship survives the war and the book follows the two men through the years of marriage, children, and the ups and downs of their careers.  The two end up living close to one another in the melting pot area of North London in the 1970’s and 80’s; and their wives and children become a sort of extended family.  Samad Iqbal has an arranged marriage with a younger woman which has its ups and downs.  His twin boys, Magid and Millat, grow up watching their parents argue until Samad sends Magid back to Bangladesh with the hopes that he will follow the traditional ways.  Instead, he becomes enamored with the West, while his brother Millat, who stayed in London, joins a militant Muslim gang.  Meanwhile, Archie Jones’ second marriage to a Jamaican woman produces Irie, a bi-racial daughter about the same age as Samad’s twins.  Irie struggles growing up with little direction or help from her parents. She longs to go to Jamaica to discover her mother’s roots, but also considers herself English.

The story is rather long and meandering, yet I enjoyed the whole thing.  The author writes dialog so well you can almost hear the various accents of different Londoners. The interaction and reactions of all the different races, cultures, religions, and ethnicities are described, but there is no effort to pronounce one right or wrong. The story is wry and yet somehow hopeful, and gives us a fresh look at how the races interact in today’s society.

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One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

“Everyone has a story…” When an earthquake traps nine people in an Indian passport visa office in an unnamed American city, the roof collapses and the water level begins to slowly rise -  a punk teenager, an African American ex-soldier, a Muslim-American struggling with 9/11, a Chinese grandmother with secrets, two office workers on the brink of an affair and others must band together to survive.

As tensions and panic accelerate, a young graduate student suggests they each share a story, “one amazing thing” from their lives, which they have never told anyone before, to pass the time and get their minds off their perilous situation.

The tales are haunting glimpses into life-altering moments in each storyteller’s life-giving the reader glimpses of the person they are, were once, and might yet become.

Allusions to the Canterbury Tales and Scheherazade combine with this suspense-filled survival tale to make a wonderfully memorable read!  I have enjoyed everything Divakaruni has written, but this is her best yet!

I read it 3 months ago and I still can’t stop telling people about it!

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