The prospective reunion of four modern Indian women, and their changing views on love, religion, class and death, are at the heart of former Beacon Journal writer Thrity Umrigar’s new novel The World We Found.
The catalyst for the reunion is a terminal cancer diagnosis for Armaiti, who has lived in the United States for decades, and is now divorced with a college-aged daughter. Rejecting treatment, she calls an old friend in Bombay to ask her to get the group to come visit her one last time. The narrative returns to Bombay, where the other women are introduced as they plan to travel to America.
Laleh, a mother of two, is the most fully formed character. She’s well off and feels a little guilty about it, maybe a little hypocritical because of the political activism she shared with the other women during their college days. The protests and marches have given way to swimming at the country club, but she volunteers a couple of days a week to assuage her guilt. Her loyal husband, Adish, is sometimes exasperated at her outspokenness, but can refuse her nothing.
Kavita, a successful architect, has been long repressed and traumatized because of an outrage in her past, but experiences a sexual awakening. This is Kavita’s main role in the book, other than a brief scene with her needy mother and joining Laleh in tracking down Nishta, the fourth member of the group. Estranged from her family since she married Iqbal, a Muslim, Nishta has been living in a shabby tenement; Iqbal compels her to wear a burkha and confiscates her cell phone when the other women try to enlist her in their plans.
Though Iqbal is a controlling bully, Umrigar stops short of making him a true villain: scarred by Bombay’s Hindu-Muslim riots in the early 1990s, he is bitter and despairing. Iqbal knows the pain of intolerance and it wounds him that his wife might conspire with her friends, but he must maintain his beliefs.
The main characters may be the women, but it is the men — Iqbal and Adish — who share the most powerful scenes: Adish, at Laleh’s urging, tries to persuade Iqbal to allow Nishta to make the trip, and learns a horrifying story of violence and brutality; later, Adish must make a life-altering decision.
The World We Found (320 pages, hardcover) costs $25.99 from Harper Collins. Thrity Umrigar is a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University. She will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere; at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hudson Library & Historical Society, 96 Library St.; and at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Berea branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 7 Berea Commons (registration is requested at 440-234-5475).
Regina Brett’s ‘Be the Miracle’
Regina Brett’s first book, God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours, a collection of essays that arose from a column Brett wrote upon turning 45, was a huge success, and she has followed it with Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible.
The “lessons,” some of which are reprinted from her columns for the Plain Dealer and the Beacon Journal, include expressive portraits of good Samaritans, selfless volunteers, unsung heroes and employees who fulfill their roles cheerfully, like the North Carolina airport bathroom attendant who welcomes travelers with a song.
With a master’s degree in religious studies from John Carroll University, Brett places a strong emphasis on prayer, some of which may be more challenging for skeptics: Lesson 19’s urging to “Pray like you mean it” should be self-evident for those who pray, but Lesson 4’s “Magnify the good,” which advocates seeing God in a layoff notice, might raise an eyebrow or two. Others are practicable, like Lesson 29: “Comfort the sick,” golden advice on how to be supportive of friends who have cancer (Brett is a cancer survivor, and writes often about her treatment).
Be the Miracle (288 pages, hardcover) costs $22.99 from Grand Central Publishing. Brett will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, 3512 Darrow Road, Stow; from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Independence branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 6363 Selig Drive (register at 216-447-0160), and at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Crocker Park in Westlake.
Events
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Brecksville branch, 9089 Brecksville Road) — Taylor Stevens signs The Innocent, second in a series of thrillers featuring former cult member Vanessa Michael Munroe, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Registration requested; call 440-526-1102.
Twinsburg Public Library (10050 Ravenna Road) — Pulitzer Prize nominee Mary Doria Russell, author of Doc, launches the library’s “Year of the Book” 50 Book Challenge and signs her works, 7 p.m. Thursday. Reservations requested; call 330-425-4268 ext. 2.
Barberton Library (602 W. Park Ave.) — Beacon Journal food writer Lisa Abraham signs Famous Chefs and Fabulous Recipes: Lessons Learned at One of the Oldest Cooking Schools in America, 2 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
