Book Review: The World We Found

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

As university students in late 1970s Bombay, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were inseparable. Spirited and unconventional, they challenged authority and fought for a better world. But much has changed over the past thirty years. Following different paths, the quartet drifted apart, the day-to-day demands of work and family tempering the revolutionary fervor they once shared.

Then comes devastating news: Armaiti, who moved to America, is gravely ill and wants to see the old friends she left behind. For Laleh, reunion is a bittersweet reminder of unfulfilled dreams and unspoken guilt. For Kavita, it is an admission of forbidden passion. For Nishta, it is the promise of freedom from a bitter fundamentalist husband. And for Armaiti, it is an act of acceptance, of letting go on her own terms even if her ex-husband and daughter do not understand her choices.

In the course of their journey to reconnect, Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta must confront the truths of their lives—acknowledge long-held regrets, face painful secrets and hidden desires, and reconcile their idealistic past and their compromised present. And they will have to decide what matters most, a choice that may just help them reclaim the extraordinary world they once found.

Oh my, where do I start? I loved this book so much but I don’t want to gush too much and ruin the story for you. Ms. Umrigar is a master of character development. Each character was multidimensional. Nishta’s husband Iqbal is a Muslim fundamentalist and as a secondary character could have easily been portrayed as a stereotype. But even he has unexpected yet realistic motivations for his actions.

The relationship between the four women was wonderful and complex. The prose was beautifully descriptive. I loved everything about this book and I highly recommend it.

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(I received this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.)