The Space Between Us: A Novel (P.S.) Reviews

• "It was all a waste, just an endless cycle of birth and death; of love and loss"

  
  By A2EEUQ81DTY7G3 on 2006-02-02
  Using turbulent India, with all its social, environmental and economic problems as a background, author Thrity Umrigar tells a very humanistic tale of love, loss and ultimately betrayal. Two very different women who, in their struggle to cope with their heartache and sorrow, discover an inevitable commonality, a spiritual unity, even though they are divided by the seemingly insurmountable gulf of money, opportunity and class.
  
  Sera Dubash is a wealthy educated Parsi, who lives a privileged upper-class life in Bombay. Her married life fraught with violence and brutality, she ached for a marriage that was different from all the "dead sea of marriages she saw all around her," a marriage begun with such high hopes that fizzled out. Now she is widowed and lives happily with her daughter and son-in-law, looking forward to the birth of her first grandchild.
  
  Bhima is poor and illiterate, forced to eek out an existence on the edges of Bombay, enduring the stench and fifth, the open drains with their dank pungent smell, the dark rows of slanting hutments, the gaunt and open-mouthed men. Bhima has worked for years as Sera's domestic housekeeper, and has built up a trustworthy relationship with her employer's family; Sera's the only person who treats her like a human being, has been steadfast and true to her, and never despised her for being ignorant, or illiterate or weak. Sera even promises to financially help Bhima's granddaughter Maya go to college. But no one - least of all Bhima - expects the seventeen-year-old Maya to get pregnant.
  
  Bhima is convinced that only education is the key to success, an escape from the back breaking and menial labor that has marred the lives of her mother and her mother before her, and aware that a child will end Maya's chance at a better life, she tells her granddaughter she must have an abortion. Bhima seeks Sera's help; both convinced that terminating the baby is only way to ensure Maya will be able to break the hold poverty has had on the family.
  
  Bhima, however, has had her own demons to contend with. Her daughter and son-in-law are dead, stricken by an incurable disease; the elderly woman talking herself into believing that this unborn child is but a "demon growing in her granddaughter's belly." Her emotions run the gamut of anger and fear, fear for this stupid innocent pregnant girl; yet she holds onto the unacknowledged hope that the child's father will perhaps step forward to assume his responsibility, to marry and build a life with the woman who would bear his first child.
  
  Through their shared experiences, Sera and Bhima are inevitably bound; and it's almost as though Bhima has an eyeglass to Sera's soul, feeling exposed under the x-ray vision of Bhima's eyes. But they are divided by a hypocritical society that perpetuates discriminative caste differences, and looks down upon the poor: Sera is kindhearted and concerned for Maya's welfare, but during lunch, Sera always sits at the table, whilst making Bhima squat on her haunches on the floor nearby, forced to use separate utensils. Sera is secretly disgusted at the foul odor of the tobacco that Bhima chews all day long, the woman almost embodying everything that is repulsive about the slums just a short distance away.
  
  Umrigar writes of a jolting, momentary world that is full of illusion and false hope, where Sera and Bhima - both disappointed by the men they loved - are obliged to make the best of any given situation they land themselves in. Sera often resorts to tears and frustration, determined to shut out the realities of the evil that lurks within her family, whilst Bhima is left to pick up the pieces, to soldier on, cloaked in anger and misery. Each wound penetrating deeper and deeper, as she feels the old familiar yearning of what she has left behind.
  
  The author excels in vividly bringing to life the sights, sounds and smells of Bombay, the street urchins, the stray dogs, the impoverished nut vendors, and the hollow-eyed slum dwellers, a city mad with greed and hunger, power and impotence wealth and poverty, where the weak and vulnerable are elbowed out of the way, and where the poor treat the middle class like royalty, when they should actually hate their guts.
  
  Gorgeously imagined, this intimate and sensuous tale is constantly fraught with tension, the human condition this author's specialty. It is impossible to imagine more frightening circumstances than those conditions that Bhima must endure at her age, her heart broken by the people around her with their deceit, their treachery, their fallibility, and their sheer humanity. Through the course of the story, Bhima learns that none of the old rules, the old taboos apply, hers is a fragile existence, a world constructed of sand - shaky ambiguous, and ultimately impermanent. Mike Leonard February 06.
  
  
  

• I highly recommend this book

  
  By A6FC4R5MDULYA on 2006-04-12
  It is so beautifully and masterfully written I would forget I was reading, and instead felt I was walking alongside either Bhima or Sera as they lived their intertwined lives of love, deceit and such spirit, I won't soon forget them. This is a book you'll keep picking up at every chance and never want it to end. I envy Ms Umrigar's students. What an inspiration she must be. I will always be on the lookout for more of her work.
  
  

• Just short of sublime

  
  By AOKQZVWCLONRH on 2007-05-27
  The earliest chapters were pleasant, but not totally enthralling, so it took me a while to finish this book. But I was eventually pulled in and drawn along by prose and storytelling of the highest quality. The interplay between the upper class Sera and her poor servant Bhima is well told, as are the many surrounding subplots. Both the similar and the different challenges faced by very different social classes are illuminated in the telling of parallel lives. Central to the story is how Sera and Bhima form an intimate relationship without every overcoming the separation of social class that prevents a friendship between them.
  
  The novel is driven by the unfortunate pregnancy of Bhima's granddaughter, Maya, which thwarts the college education both Bhima and Sera want for her. After many a subplot and flashback develops the history of the protagonists, there is a sudden revelation that upsets everything. Up to this point there is little to criticize.
  
  The short denouement following the revelation is more problematical. While fitting with the class divisions illuminated throughout the novel, it is harder to reconcile with the personalities of the protagonists created by the author. I was left at the end feeling that the last few pages didn't quite ring true.
  
  I don't want to spoil the story by discussing more detail because I do think this book is well worth reading. Take the opportunity and form your own opinion about the ending.
  
  

• At Times, The Writing Is Utterly Beautiful, BUT....

  
  By A1BIGYMFZOFTR8 on 2007-07-14
  I was immediately drawn into this book which, at first, seemed so promising. Found Bhima's plight to be very compelling. Sera's situation was awful also, but I was still interested in their stories. I think that, for me, the story fell apart when the truth of Maya's predicament unfolded. I don't really know why, but I simply stopped caring.... This was Bhima's & Sera's story and should have remained as such. Again, the writing -- especially describing Bhima's entire story [the hut, the hospital scenes, etc.] -- was, for me, very real & beautifully rendered. However, the ending was unconvincing, in my humble opinion. Extremely disappointed given such a beguiling & goregous beginning!! [I probably would have rated this book a 2 Star read if not for the writing, as well as for Bhima's story [initially a 4 star which unravelled into soap opera].
  
  

• An Interesting Story about Life in Bombay (Mumbai)

  
  By A1L701MFYINOFJ on 2006-11-17
  Set in Bombay (now Mumbai), this book takes in some 36 characters but focuses on women of two ethnically different families - lower-class Hindus and higher-class Parsis. Written with plenty of heart, twists, richly drawn characters and places, the story is fully credible and gives a sense of what it just might be like to be there. The core of this story, to a western mind at least, is the difficulty of forming relationships between people of similar and different ages and genders in India's hierarchic social scale, the `caste system'.
  
  But the story goes further than that. There are glimpses of a young generation rationally questioning the practical value of a class system that limits its prospects and interactions solely on the basis of birth and customary stratification. This book's universal themes of family dissolution, social mores, ambition and exploitation stretch beyond India and so serve to reduce the space between East and West. At its furthest reach, this tale makes us reconsider the validity of class divisions wherever they preside.
  
  The author doesn't shy from expressing the range of opposing thoughts, emotions and considerations that deluge a person when life suddenly knocks one sideways. Umrigar pulls no punches. She gives us the whole messy picture and it is this that makes it easy to relate to the dreams, heartbreak and spirit of a very old woman whose home is a Mumbai slum. (This intimacy with a character is reminiscent of Antonio Tabucchi's up-close depiction of an editor in "Pereira Declares".)
  
  This is not a perfect book. Without a glossary of the Hindi words used to clarify a speaker's emotional state, I was left to guess at the strength of an insult and even wondered if a word was, in fact, a compliment or a friendly jab in the ribs. It was like listening to an articulate person tell you how she feels while she's wearing a mask.
  
  Second, I would have appreciated a short summary on the place of Parsis in modern-day India and how they came to become part of the Hindu caste system.
  
  Finally, we don't know what men think of the caste system for we're not provided their thoughts on it even though we see them act within it.
  
  Overall, as a book examining women's lives and perspectives, it's very good to read.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This could happen in my home in Mumbai
  By A2SY50IEE7V2W5 on 2007-06-06
  I am from Mumbai though I have been studying and living in NYC for the past 2 years. My biggest grouse with West-based authors writing about India is that they are too removed from reality and are busy depicting a stereotypical India that is very changed today.
  
  This book and the author surprise me by how accurate it is. We had a "bai" or a maid like Bhima in my home when I was growing up and some of the interactions between Sera and Bhima are very close to conversations in my own home. And though Sera's choice in the end is terrible, I am humbled to accept that inspite of my education and "modern" thinking, I can understand why Sera chose to stick with her family.
  
  The more striking thing about the book that it is not only about India as it is not about "caste" which are sub-portions of the Hindu religion but rather about "class" which is more wealth and social stature driven. This story could well be set in a white household with a colored servant and would probably be the same. I think it is this universal appeal of the book that makes me give it 5 stars.
  
  Definitely a must read.
  
  
• okay, but not great
  By A3ESS1BJAGW8S8 on 2006-08-03
  This book had a good story, and the writing did at times (as Publisher's Weekly said) achieve clarity. But overall I thought the writing was bland and the characters two-dimensional. The dialogue was at times downright unbearable, particularly when deally with the Serabai story. And the characters weren't consistent. Some may claim that Umrigar was showing that things aren't always what they seem, but I argue that the characters weren't developed enough for us to understand and accept the reasons for them to act out of character.
  
  For those of you who enjoyed this book, may I recommend a much richer, more beautiful book that takes place in India called The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Here is a book that gets below the surface of the characters and plot and setting and truly speaks to the heart.
  
  
• The India of today!
  By A21NVBFIEQWDSG on 2006-01-11
  This novel is sad, but more than that, it is beautiful, simple, and real.
  
  Set in contemporary Bombay, The Space Between Us is the story of two women. Sera Dubash is an upper-middle class Parsi housewife who seems to have a perfect life. Bhima is a servant in the Dubash household (as if to reiterate Bhima's status in society, her surname is never mentioned). She lives in a slum with her pregnant 17-year-old granddaughter.
  
  Despite their outward differences, the women have surprisingly similar lives and struggles. Both have experienced extreme love and loss. They have suffered greatly because of their mistakes and because of the misfortune of being born a woman. And, most importantly, each of them has been able to turn to the other in her greatest time of need.
  
  Although it is a split narrative, the text flows smoothly and is eminently readable. Umrigar effortlessly weaves the stories of the two women together, using the past to inform the present. Her characters are so well written that even when you are appalled by their actions, you can understand why they could--why they had to do what they did.
  
  In this novel Umrigar is showing us the true India of today, in all its glory and all its shame. She is telling a story and at the same time giving a subtle social critique. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the dedication, which reads: "For the real Bhima and the millions like her." As such it is eye-opening. All the characters in the book, including Bhima, have deep-seated prejudices.
  
  Armchair Interviews says: As a reader you are forced to confront your own prejudices and to realize that, just like the characters in The Space Between Us, you cannot justify them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Umrigar does it again
  By A4TFGSODGE9JZ on 2006-01-18
  Umrigar has done it again! Her second novel, The Space Between Us, has kept me up two nights until I finished it. I left my work, my family, and even my I-Pod!
  
  Don't wait another minute to delve into the life of Bhima and her employer, Sera Dubash. You won't come out the same. Umrigar's a magician at character development and dialogue. This, her first time "real" plot was riveting.
  
  You will have a new friend after reading The Space Between Us, her name will be Bhima, and you will know what it's like to walk in her shoes. You will feel the struggle, the despair, the unending battles of gender and class. You will hear the screech of wealth and the sobs of poverty and how they exist together in a city ugly with filth and poverty and beautiful with oceans and balloons.
  
  Don't walk, run to your nearest bookseller and pick up Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us. Buy two, buy three because everyone you know will want one.
  
  I am waiting for Umrigar's next treasure chest, maybe a sequel, or maybe a movie about The Space Between Us. If movie producers have ears, they should definitely hear the ring of this unforgettable book.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  
• "Or perhaps it is that time doesn't heal all wounds at all, perhaps that is the biggest lie of them all."
  By A1UH8RMD57P34Y on 2006-02-12
  "Or perhaps it is that time doesn't heal all wounds at all, perhaps that is the biggest lie of them all, and instead what happens is that each wound penetrates the body deeper and deeper until one day you find that the sheer geography of your bones-has collapsed under the weight of your grief." Sprinkling it with heartbreakingly beautiful passages like this one, with The Space Between Us, Thrity Umrigar earns her rightful place amongst India's great storytellers. Within these pages you won't find easy lives or happy endings. What you will find is the authenticity of life, replete with all its trials, tribulations, heartache and betrayal. Friendship between the most unlikely of women, divided by class and caste, frames this novel, proving that neither one's familial nor financial inheritance can shelter her from the sorrow of this world. Yet for all its antiquated underpinnings, The Space Between Us is chockfull of modern-day issues like abortion, adultery and domestic violence, making it intensely current and relatable. Readers from all walks of life will quickly forget the "space between" Bhima and Sera and soon see them as regular women who are "living for more than just themselves." With its characters still haunting me, The Space Between Us earns my high recommendation.
  
  
• Powerful and deeply moving
  By A27E8N4NMVHFOP on 2006-01-24
  The preceding comments are right on the money. You will not find a more beautiful,emotionally wrenching book published this year. The technical finesse of the storytelling is also first-rate- the author is able to juggle two eventful, interlocking life stories, involving the use of multiple flashbacks, and remarkably she makes this complex structure seem completely easy and natural (I'm sure that achieving it in the writing was anything but!) One additional point I do want to make is that nobody should even think of pigeonholing this book as merely an "Indian novel." While Mumbai provides the setting and the cultural backdrop for the story, the themes of class, gender and power relations are as universal as they can be, and are treated with rare depth and compassion.
  
  
• Two Different Worlds
  By AVEB76ZI5VDJ6 on 2006-03-29
  Not knowing much about the complex society that is India I thank Thirty Umrigar for helping me understand this country better. Using the human relationship of two very different women ,Sera and Bhima...... the world of Bombay comes to life. The story is heart wrenching and totally absorbing. This novel is a book club lovers dream book.It has so many layers and provides a wonderful source of a many layered discussion..........class and cultural differences,friendship,physical abuse,abortion, poverty, family loyalties etc, etc, etc..........A WONDERFUL READ!!!!!!!!
  
  
• Another good novel about India
  By A11NL2A0RDEGF on 2007-03-20
  Whether we like to think it or not, we are all shaped by the families and situations into which we are born. The class system in India just does a clearer job of solidifying that fact. Sera and Bhima are really so much alike but their worlds are totally different even though they may be together day after day. They both are shaped by and trapped by the roles into which they were born. The situation with Maya is so unfair and heartbreaking; Sera's response when she finds out the truth is pathetic, but entirely in line with what she has been taught and what she has lived for her entire life. One can't help to believe that she will have many sleepless nights filled with worry and regret, yet she will not be able to make any move toward conciliation.
  
  I really liked this book, but I was a bit unsure about the ending. The ending implies that Bhima has found some sense of self-worth, but I'm not sure that can be maintained in her circumstance of no means of support and the conditions where she lives.
  
  I have read several books about India and by Indian writers lately and they have all been wonderful. If you like this one, I recommend "Inheritance of Loss" and the movie "Water." There is a lot of great writing coming from Indian authors and this is just one example.
  
  
  
• Captivating and Moving
  By A3TDVOFFFWW5HP on 2007-07-13
  Yet another wonderful and moving novel by Thrity Umrigar. The story vividly unfolds on each page, and I found myself unable to put the book down. It tells the story of Bhima and Sera, two people who's lives are very much different, but in many ways the same. Yes, there is much sadness in this book. However, that sadness is there for a reason and is meant to be thought-provoking. It forces you evaluate your life and your relationships. It also helps you to better understand not only the person you are, but the kind of person you want to be. The character of Bhima moved me the most, and will live on in my heart.
  
  
• A life marked with more sadness than joy
  By A2QTG1OWAWEFR4 on 2006-02-20
  Bhima is a devoted servant in the Dubash household for over twenty years. Separate by social class, Sera Dubash and her daughter treat Bhima almost like family. Bhima's daughter and son-in-law died from aids. Her beloved Gopal, left her after a factory accident taking their son Amit with him. All she had left was her granddaughter Maya. Sera Dubash was generously paying Maya's college tuition. Bhima and her family benefited greatly from the kindness and power of the Dubash family. Maya becomes pregnant and is reluctant to name the father. Bhima figures out who the father is and is distraught. No matter how close she was to Sera; blood is thicker than water. A compelling and engaging novel that is hard to put down.
  
  
• Life's Interesting Quilt of Class and Caste
  By APGD0OI3M4JN6 on 2006-03-10
  I just finished reading the book "The Space Between Us". I enjoyed it very much, it was a very direct and easy to read book. It feels good to finally catch my breath. The author was able to infuse real life into the characters and the settings in the book. The depth of understanding of the characters left me deeply touched and made me feel as though Umrigar has lived all their lives herself in several reincarnations. Her description of life in the slums, the sights, sounds and the smells make it all very real. I lived in Bombay in 1979 and rented a room with a Parsi family, I was able to appreciate Umrigar's book that brought to life the endangered Parsi culture and Bombay's seductive, as well as the ugly, extremes of life. I had led quite a sheltered life till my move to Bombay. I had never encountered poverty on the scale of Bombay in my life before, but yet the resiliency of the people impressed me. Born into the Hindu faith I have been a Christian for the past 3 years. The Bible says - "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to God's purposes". Umrigar's book brought to surface some very important questions in my mind pertaining to class, caste, wealth, sense of right and wrong and our purpose in life. While Umrigar does not attempt to address the issues of class and caste in India, she does a great job accurately articulating them through lively characters. This book, through Umrigar's deep insights, will help us move forward in better understanding of life's truths and each other.
  
  
  
  India is a complex country and home to people of extreme riches and grinding poverty. India is also a refuge to many races and a plethora of religious practices. Somehow, India became a home for many religiously persecuted people around the world. The 'Tower of Silence' in Bombay is probably only a few such places that still exist where the Parsees dispose off their dead for the vultures to eat. In spite of occasional flare ups all races and religions co-exist in harmony.
  
  
  
  It is ironic to see that now American companies are taking the jobs to India (outsourcing). Ultimately people with the capital seem to have an upper hand in exploitation of others in this world. Umrigar's book brings forth this universal truth no matter where we live. I hope many of you will find insight into the culture of Bombay and a better understanding of life in a distant land. If you ever were an underdog or rooted for an underdog, after reading the book you would come out feeling greatly liberated.
  
  
  
  
  
• Beautifully written: a must read!
  By A2S0YE2FNM11YM on 2006-05-24
  Thrity Umrigar's 'The Space between us' tells the story of Sera Dubash, an educated and wealthy Parsi widow and Bheema, her illiterate and poor maid.
  Bheema has worked for Sera for a long time, and has seen Sera as a newly married bride with a difficult mother-in-law and an abusive husband; as a mother and eventually, as a mother-in-law and a widow. Sera, on the other hand, has suported Bheema in sickness, being abandoned by her son and husband, through the death of her daughter and son-in-law and in giving her hope for the future by paying for Bheema's grand daughter, Maya's, college education.
  Inspite of this close relationship class differences form a very formidable wall between the two women, and this story, that is both tragic and full of hope, is told beatifully and realistically by Umrigar.
  As the book progresses one realizes how despite their very different circumstances both the women are actually so similar: they are both women and mothers, and therefore the choices they make are always for the best of their families and almost always at the cost of their own happiness.
  It is amazing how Umrigar can so skillfully show vast differences and sameness; tragedy and hope, all at the same time!
  
  
  
• A memorable book about India
  By A14DKZ3260HJ8Z on 2006-06-06
  I am fascinated by India and particularly like Indian writers. I came across the book by serendipity. The book's tension builds slowly, but I was pulled in by the beauty of the writing and the buildup of tensions between the lives of the two main characters.
  
  
  First, there are no happy books about India and this one is not either. Bhima is the long-employed housekeeper of Sera, a Parsi housewife. Each considers the other special, though Bhima is never allowed to sit at the table. They have tea together, Bhima squatting and Sera seated at the table. Sera's husband thinks that she is entirely too kind and forgiving toward Bhima.
  
  Each has an unhappy marriage. Bhima's husband Ghopal has abandoned her after a workplace accident robs him of three fingers and his manhood. He finally leaves and takes Bhima's son, whom she never sees again. Sera has a vindictive mother-in-law and a husband who abuses her physically.
  
  Bhima has been raising her granddaughter Maya since the death of Maya's parents. Maya has dropped out of college (being paid for by Sera) because of an unplanned pregnancy.
  
  The collision and fallout between the lives of Bhima and Sera has been set in motion by the difference in their individual circumstances and by the culture of India. Though caste is never mentioned, the difference is never misunderstood.
  
  This is a heartbreaking novel, but at the end Bhima still has hope despite all the sad events of her life.
  
  
  
• Not Just Another Great Story....
  By A1WDDFUC8XMZSR on 2006-08-02
  This book was the most compelling read I've encountered in years -- I absolutely couldn't put it down! And now that I've finished reading it, I can't stop thinking about it. The characters were so credible, the storyline so engaging, that it became not just a great story, but part of my own experience. I found myself crying at the end, not because of the ending really but because of the cumulative effect of the emotions it stirred.
  I find that after mulling over the story, that I see contrasts and parallels in my own life, depths that I didn't see before. I find that I even see Sera, one of the main characters, everywhere I look -- I wonder about the woman at the next table when we go out to eat, wonder what kinds of secrets might be part of her life. There are passages in the book that struck me so forcefully that I had to write them down, and think them over.
  I'm a compulsive reader, have read many good books, some great books, and plenty of ho-hums, but The Space Between Us is one that will stay with me for a long long time. I absolutely recommend it!
  
  
• A Compelling Story
  By A3C8U1W6CXITLC on 2006-08-24
  The Space Between Us is one of the most compelling novels I have ever read. It is the story of the relationship between a middle class Bombay widow and her lower-caste servant whose lives intertwine in many ways, some of them quite unexpected. Both characters are very sympathetically protrayed as the author takes us back and forth in time into the depth of each of their stories. It was one of those books that I just couldn't put down yet really didn't want to finish. Hauntingly beautiful!
  
  
• Awesome, a must read book!!
  By A3ESA6QPZ6BGBD on 2006-10-11
  If you are here checking out the reviews for The Space Between Us, then you need to know that this novel is a must read. A rich, vibrant story with strong, believable characters. I hate nothing more than buying an expensive book and being let down. That is not the case here. Set in India, the lives of a middle-class woman and her maid will totally captivate you. I hated putting it down, finished it quickly, read it again, and crave more. I am now reading Thrity's first novel and am enjoying it as much as this one. A very talented author capable of a smooth storyline. Many great characters, mannerisms, and a good introduction to a different way of life. Highly recommended!!
  
  
• "...All these tears shed in the world, where do they go?"
  By A27USBSZ6YU29I on 2006-11-02
  It is rare to find a an author, who in exploring the strengths and weaknesses of humans so sublimely exposes the truth of our shared existence. This is what Thrity Umrigar does in The Space Between Us.
  
  This novel sheds light on the very real class/caste system still in place in India, but is also a profound reflection on justice, forgiveness, love and all of the intricacies that prevent or allow people anywhere in the world to reach out to others and embrace them.
  
  I cannot wqait to read her other writings - and to share them with others.
  
  
• A Beautiful Story
  By A19LPWR3SU9HA4 on 2007-03-27
  This is a wonderful, haunting book that I read in one sitting. The characters are intriguing, and I was fascinated by the complex relationship between Bhima and Sera. There are not a lot of novels set in India; I enjoyed the way Umrigar allowed me a glimpse into their culture. I don't have time to read too many books for pleasure, unfortunately, but I'm sure glad I happened to pick this one up.
  
  
• A BREATHTAKING NOVEL
  By ANSNTRDFSUK8W on 2007-05-17
  Ms. Umrigar has written a truly universal book. The story centers around a wealthy Indian woman and her housekeeper. The very poor housekeeper, who lives in the slums of Bombay, and her employer have developed a symbiotic relationship over many years. Each has become involved with the other's family, problems, dreams and disappointments. The housekeeper's 18 year old grandaughter has become pregnant by an unknown man. The wealthy woman as well as her own daughter and son-in-law become involved in trying to obtain an abortion for this very intelligent and underprivileged girl. The story is full of unexpected twists and turns, and finally teaches us what this class separation really means. Despite their years of friendship, the space between employer and employee is poignantly and devastatingly revealed over the course of the book. It is a breathtaking story, impossible to leave once started. It has humor as well as crying sadness. The ultimate lack of fairness in this world is driven home with cruel accuracy. It has left a permanent scar on my heart.
  
  
• Dissatisfied With the Ending
  By A16WM8B5JNV5UD on 2007-06-04
  I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it - but I felt like the ending was too sudden and left me hanging. Worth a read, though.
  
  
• This book deserves every star!
  By A3983X80T3PDNH on 2007-07-21
  As I read over the reviews, I cannot believe anyone did not appreciate the beauty of the prose or the profound realisms in the story. This is a woman's story, but is equal to The Kite Runner or A Fine Balance (both huge bestsellers), in evoking a sense of place, time, and story. The characters have lives that some of us may not relate to, but everyone should read about. The story jumps from Sera to Bhima and back and forth in time, but never loses the beauty and the heart-wrenching sadness that is life in Mumbai. I thought the ending was magnificent. Just as in Kite Runner or Fine Balance, life is not a perfect ending, but a series of experiences, some of which result in an understanding of life beyond ourselves.
  
  
• The Predictable Space Between Us
  By ASXQLK9S0H40O on 2007-09-17
  This book came highly recommended, and unfortunately it disappointed me. The plot was highly predictable, after the first 35 pages or so. In the end it turned out to be more of a soap opera than an intelligent insight into the characters that I was looking forward to. The book does not even come close to Rohinton Mistri's depiction of the Parsi community in Bombay and is more melodramatic than thought provoking.
  
  
• An Amazing Novel
  By A1ZI0KSYFBMLVH on 2006-01-20
  Thrity Umrigar compares to any of great writer in capturing the essence of a culture and it's strengths and weaknesses through individuals. This novel can be compared to "The Crimson Petal and the White," about Victorian England and it's middle-class and its poverty/prostitution class, only here we are in Bombay, in the present.
  
  It's hard to put this book down. It feels like a musical piece you don't want to interrupt. Bhima is the servant, Sera is her employer, and they love each other. But Bhima can never sit in a chair in this home, or use a glass to drink water. She must kneel by her employer on the floor. Neither question the chasm.
  Maya, Bhima's grandaughter, is also loved, helped through the beginning of college, but eventually exploited and disowned by this bourgeois family, as is Bhima.
  
  The story is heartbreaking, sad and beautiful. It is a book you won't forget. I'm rushing to buy the author's two other books.
  
  This book could easily be made into a movie, without commercializing it, to expose more people to the conflicts in the Indian culture.
  
  
• An ode to the mighty ones..
  By A3OXZO0S18RX5K on 2006-02-05
  
  Ms Thrity Umrigar, narrates a poignant tale of arguably the most underrated, unsung tribe, which keeps the machinery of urban civilizations well oiled and running - The maids/ domestic help.
  
  "The Space between Us" is an ode to Bhima - the central character around which this book is structured. Bhima who has toiled away at the Dubash family for decades now, often leaving behind her own ailing family to ensure that the pressure cooker in the Dubash household was scrubbed lustrous. In the process of the employment, she becomes a confidante and a mate for Serabai or Sera Dubash, her "mistress". Almost becoming a family member, often going above and beyond (like nursing her mistress through an abusive marriage) the call of duty. .but never being able to conquer the "space" of the title.
  
  Bhima as per Hindu mythology is the name of one the Pandava brothers(from the Mahabharata). Bhima was the the mightiest and the strongest of the five Pandava brothers.(Among the rural masses, a child was named for the mythological character for the facet, the character represented irrespective of the gender...And in this book, the physical and emotional strength of this frail, thin Bhima through the trails and tribulations of her life, is amply evidenced.
  
  To Ms Umrigar's credit, she has spun an interesting and perspective widening read from the lives of the people whom urban civilizations, often take for granted. She also sets this in the sprawl of Bombay and her love for the metropolis is evident in the richness of the settings.
  
  Picking up the unfinished strands or the digressions of this story, would be nitpicking....but I guess that is just what stops this heartfelt narrative from being a masterpiece...
  
  
  
• Excellent
  By A2X2ZVNSFWPG8J on 2006-11-02
  I highly recommmend this book. The characters and situations are multidimensional and very believable. It shows us how far some of us will go to deny the truth to maintain the status quo.
  
  

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