Honor

Soooo…I’m not going with my normal format for this review, and I’m just going to free write.

I’m going to be completely honest with everyone. I read Thrity Umrigar’s latest novel, Honor, a few weeks ago, and I still cannot come up with the words to appropriately review this poignant and riveting story. It was dark, emotional, impactful, and eye opening. After I turned the last page, I found it hard to return to the world I lived in, and it has been ages since a story has left me with this kind of hangover.

I sat down with this book expecting to spread it out over a week and instead found myself glued to the pages as I read about the freedom of women and their culture in parts of India and finished in a day. Umrigar fully transported me to India through the sights, sounds, smells, and even the feeling of the temperature on my skin as Smita travels back to her hometown after living in America while she covers Meena’s highly agitating story and attack. Meena’s story will shed a light on the fear and lack of freedoms afforded women in today’s India and so much more. I want to go into more details, but I fear it will take away some of the emotions that go with this story.

Seriously, Umrigar has such a beautiful way with words that’s both descriptive and propulsive. If you’ve read her before, you know what I mean. Honor is an absolute must read, and I hope you pick it up today!

Synopsis: Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.