We are a group of friends who love to read. We
get together about once a month to talk about a book that we've
all been reading. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but
we usually have a good chat, whether it's about the book or just
a gossip!
Last month's book
Last month we read Nemesis by
Philip Roth.
As usual, split opinions on this
one. For those of us who enjoyed it, we felt it resonated more after
finishing it. The polio epidemic in America which in this book seemed
to be affecting Jewish children, paralleled what was happening in
Europe, underlined by the Italian youths who came to jeer and 'spread'
the disease to the children in the playground. Bucky's guilt at
being unable to join his friends in the war was reinforced by what
happens at the end.
This month's book
This month we're reading The
Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar. The next meeting is at
8pm on Tuesday, 21st February 2010 at Nicky's house.
'Books
are, in one sense, the basis of all social progress'
KARL MARX
THE SPACE BETWEEN US
by
Thrity Umrigar
In this beautifully crafted novel about the interlinked
lives of two women, Thrity Umrigar explores the complex
relationships between the classes in India, rarely addressed
in contemporary fiction. 'Bhima is real. She worked in the
house I grew up in, year after year, a shadow flitting around
our middle-class home, her thin brown hands cleaning furniture
she was not allowed to sit on, cooking food she was not
allowed to share at the family dining table, dusting the
stereo that mainly played American rock and roll, music
that was alien and unfamiliar to her, that only reminded
her of her nebulous presence in our home, our world, our
lives.' Thrity Umrigar Set in contemporary Bombay, 'The
Space Between Us' tells the story of Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class
Parsi housewife and Bhima, the woman who works as a domestic
servant in her home. Despite their class differences, the
two women are bound by the bonds of gender and shared life
experiences -- both had marriages that started out with
great romantic love and promise, but ended up as crushing
disappointments. Ultimately, Sera Dubash faces a decision
that will force her to choose between loyalty to gender
and friendship or loyalty to her social position and class.
