Bibliograph

The space between us, Thrity Umrigar

Type

Label

The space between us, Thrity Umrigar

Language

eng

Index

no index present

Literary Form

fiction

Main title

The space between us

Nature of contents

dictionaries

Oclc number

63681126

Responsibility statement

Thrity Umrigar

Summary

Bhima, a 65-year-old slum dweller, has worked for Sera Dubash, a younger upper-middle-class Parsi woman, for years: cooking, cleaning and tending Sera after the beatings she endures from her abusive husband, Feroz. Sera, in turn, nurses Bhima back to health from typhoid fever and sends her granddaughter Maya to college. Sera recognizes their affinity: "They were alike in many ways, Bhima and she. Despite the different trajectories of their lives' circumstances ... dictated by the accidents of their births--they had both known the pain of watching the bloom fade from their marriages." But Sera's affection for her servant wars with ingrained prejudice against lower castes. The younger generation--Maya; Sera's daughter, Dinaz, and son-in-law, Viraf'are also caged by the same strictures despite efforts to throw them off. In a final plot twist, class allegiance combined with gender inequality challenges personal connection, and Bhima may pay a bitter price for her loyalty to her employers

Classification