The world we found : a novel /

*Starred Review* In late-1970s Bombay, four college women share a bond of friendship and dreams of a better India and a better world. For four years, Laleh, Kavita, Nishta, and Armaiti enjoy the pleasure of one another's company, whether chatting over masala chai or carrying a picket sign in a campus protest. They exchange intimate details about their lives and the men they love, except for Kavita, who secretly pines more for Armaiti than for members of the opposite sex. After graduation, the four drift apart. Laleh marries a rich Indian businessman. Kavita becomes a successful architect and falls in love with a German colleague. Nishta takes up with a Muslim man, whose views become progressively more extreme. Only Armaiti leaves India, attending graduate school at Harvard, then remaining in the States. Thirty years later, news that Armaiti is dying of cancer brings the quartet together again. As they prepare for their reunion, each revisits past hardships and joys, reconciling present lives with the world they once knew. In her fifth novel, Umrigar (The Weight of Heaven, 2009) renders a vivid portrait of modern-day India as she meditates upon the power of friendship, loyalty, and love. Like her previous works, The World We Found is eloquent and evocative, bitter and sweet.--Block, Allison Copyright 2010 Booklist

Umrigar (The Space Between Us) illustrates India's national identity crisis over the past 40 years through four friends who reconnect in this absorbing novel. Divorcee Armaiti is living in America with a daughter at Harvard when she's given six months to live. Her last wish is to see her three best friends again-Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta, all in Bombay. In college, as idealistic Communists, they'd been inseparable, but now they're barely in touch. Kavita is a successful architect, Laleh a wife and mother, and none of them have heard from Nishta in years. When they finally find her beneath a burkha in a strict Muslim neighborhood, it becomes clear that Nishta's husband, Iqbal, a fellow university idealist turned fundamentalist, will be the biggest obstacle to fulfilling Armaiti's final desire. Umrigar is never shy in her portrayal of a divided India, deftly pinpointing major issues facing the country today and tracing them through a legacy of cultural death and rebirth. Armaiti's ruminations on unexpectedly encountering the end of one's life and Kavita's struggle to live openly as a lesbian despite supportive friends act as strong secondary narratives. Though none of the major story elements Umrigar employs are remotely fresh, her characters make this a rewarding novel. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

The bad news arrives over the long-distance line bridging the United States and India. Laleh's dearest friend, not yet 50, is coping with a fatal diagnosis. Eschewing debilitating treatments, to the chagrin of her daughter Diane and former husband Richard, the clear-eyed Armaiti nurses one desire: to revisit those heady student days when she, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta were inseparable activists, marching, protesting, and speaking out for a new India. But over the ensuing years life has gotten in the way of the revolution. Kavita, a renowned architect, has embraced her once hidden sexual orientation, while Nishta's increasingly fundamentalist husband, Iqbal, has buried her personhood beneath a burka. The invitation to America acts as a catalyst, propelling the story forward as the three friends reconnect, reminisce, and contemplate the vagaries of life that will take them to Armaiti's door. VERDICT From the first sentence of this insightful novel, Umrigar (The Space Between Us; The Weight of Heaven) will enthrall readers with her deft portrayal of the depth of women's friendships, the many facets of love, and the oh-so-human conundrum-whether to live with one's choices or walk away. Oprah would love this book, and so will your patrons. Buy multiples. [See Prepub Alert, 7/25/11.]-Sally Bissell, Lee Cty. Lib. Syst. Ft. Myers, FL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Weight of Heaven, 2009, etc.) enhances her simple scenario via sympathetic analysis of all perspectives including Iqbal's and Adish's, whose final confrontation at the airport reflects some of the prejudices and practices of modern India. Umrigar extends a boundless, occasionally lyrical sympathy to her cast, but her slender plot, even padded with extensive rumination, still disappoints.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.