Review: Everybody's Son

It was the hottest week anyone could remember in years. Anton's mother locked him in their inner-city apartment while she went to get a quick hit. But she didn't come back. Days later, Anton breaks a window and the police find him bloody, hungry, and overheated. When his mother is finally found, she is sent to prison and her son becomes a part of the foster care system. Anton's foster parents are David and Delores Coleman. They carry the tremendous loss of their own son and hope that Anton can bring some joy to their home again. With time, the Colemans come to love Anton and he cares very much for his foster parents, even as he asks about being reunited with his mother. David's love will drive him to use his power and influence as a judge to make a terrible decision that will have repercussions for everyone in his family.

Thrity Umrigar is not an author who shies away from tough questions. In Everybody's Son, she looks at the immoral decisions that people will make for the people they love. Anton is a boy who goes through difficult circumstances, but he is also a boy who is deeply loved by his mother and by his foster parents. It would be easy for the author to portray the drug-addicted mother as the villain and the kind Colemans as the heroes. It would also be easy to rail against the rich white people who took a black child away from the mother who was doing the best she could. But Thrity Umrigar does neither of these things. Instead, she has created a nuanced story in which characters do bad things for good reasons and good things for the wrong reasons.

The ending of this book was wrapped up a little neatly for me and I wished that we hadn't jumped from a lot of action to a lot of self-reflection in the final hundred pages. But Thrity Umrigar is a careful and compelling writer and this book will give you a lot to think about when it comes to power, privilege, and the bond of family.

Everybody's Son
By Thrity Umrigar
Harper June 2017
352 pages
From the library

Review: The Story Hour

The Story Hour

By Thrity Umrigar

Harper August 2014

336 pages

Won from Goodreads 

Maggie is a psychologist with a thriving practice and a devoted husband. Things change when she meets Lakshmi, a young Indian woman who tried to commit suicide. Lakshmi is estranged from her family in India and her days are ordered by her domineering husband. Maggie breaks her own rules and agrees to treat Lakshmi for free in her home office. Those aren't the only protocols that are broken as the two women become friends. But can their friendship survive each woman's darkest secret?

The relationship between the two women evolves as Lakshmi shares her loneliness with Maggie. She feels she has no one who cares about her. As the women bond over the early loss of their mothers, Maggie slowly lets Lakshmi into her life as well. Maggie shares some of her insight with her husband Sudhir. He figures out that much of Lakshmi's trouble comes from not having her own identity or income. Maggie and Sudhir help her to start her own cleaning and catering business. The friendship between the two women is lovely and believable until their biggest secrets are revealed. Without giving too much away, I found each woman's reaction rather unbelievable.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is the way Umrigar tackles racism. Through Maggie and Lakshmi's eyes, we see racism in many forms and realize that everyone has prejudices. When Maggie first visits Lakshmi in her hospital room, the patient visibly recoils. Lakshmi has been taught by her husband that all African-American people are liars and out to get you. Maggie thinks herself above prejudice - she married an Indian man after all. But she slowly realizes her own misconceptions about immigrants and the poor. We are reminded that each of us makes assumptions based on race and class and that getting to know people often paints a much different picture.

Umrigar makes some bold choices with this book. Maggie can be selfish and rather brusque. Her husband and, later, Lakshmi are devoted to her. Instead of being appreciative, she is focused on herself. This can sometimes make her a difficult character to like. Lakshmi's chapters are very distinctive because they are written the way that she speaks. It takes a while to get used to her broken and incorrect English. While it can be uncomfortable to read, it really highlights the differences between her faltering speech and Maggie's college-educated, professional demeanor. 

Thrity Umrigar has written a beautiful and insightful story about the importance of being known and loving people in spite of their failings. The Story Hour will make you reconsider your own prejudices and the ways in which we perceive the people around us. 

Other books by Thrity Umrigar:

The World We Found 

I read The Story Hour as a part of A More Diverse Universe, where readers commit to reading books by authors who look and think differently than they do. To find other diverse reads, head over to Booklust! 

Review: The World We Found

The World We Found

By Thrity Umrigar

Harper January 2012

ARC Provided by Harper Collins

Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were the best of friends during college. They studied together, laughed together, and protested together in 1970s India. Time and circumstance have pulled the friends apart, but when Armaiti learns that she has a brain tumor she knows that there is no one she needs more than her three friends. A visit will not be so simple though. In addition to the literal ocean between the women in India and Armaiti in the United States, money and religion have changed the lives of these once inseparable friends. The women will have to deal with secrets from the past before they can be there for each other in the present.

This is the first novel I have read by Thrity Umrigar. The characters are beautifully drawn – even secondary characters are incredibly nuanced. I loved that none of the characters was a villain. Instead, each character makes choices that hurt their relationships with their friends and with their loved ones. Umrigar also does an excellent job of subtly invoking place and teaching readers the Indian history that has shaped the characters. Through the story, we learn of the political discord between those who have money and those who do not, as well as the prejudice that Muslims and Hindus hold against each other.

This book explores the schism between the life you anticipate and the one you experience. In college, the women are optimistic about their futures. In the present, life is very different than their expectations. Relationships are hidden, friendships seem lost, and lives are lived in secret.

I really enjoyed reading The World We Found. The story ended and I found myself wishing there were more pages, more time to spend with these four fascinating women. This novel is for anyone who believes that friendship can last forever, regardless of place or circumstance.

Interest piqued? Head over to S. Krishna’s Books, where a great discussion of the novel is underway.

To the guys and gals of the FTC: I received this ARC from Harper Collins. The opinions expressed here are my own.