The World We Found: A Novel by Thrity Umrigar,320 pages. Available in hardcover,
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.
Having liked her previous novels, I had high hopes that this would be the ONE I would love. I already knew Ms. Umrigar's strengths include vivid character development and the ability to draw the reader in from the beginning. I am never disappointed by the first half of any of her work. And in this case the same pattern held, The World We Found is just plain readable, up to a point. I cannot say exactly when, but there was a subtle shift when it became both unfocused and forced. The big picture is the reunion of the four girlfriends, which includes flashbacks to their idealistic days as activist college students, and highlights their current disappointments and struggles, but even that plot was not fully realized. My sentimental side did enjoy the portrayal of lapsed yet loyal friendships. The story flirted with deeper themes - Nishta's storyline showed promise - but never penetrated the surface.One of the reasons I seek out international fiction is to learn something about a culture that is unfamiliar to me. But this seemed more like a Westernized novel dropped in the setting of India and then turned into a bit of a suspense tale towards the end. Ms. Umrigar's writing is typically heavy with political and class struggles, in this case Nishta seemed like a token symbol of those themes. I was left a little confused, wanting a bit more, but remain open to reading this author to see where she goes next. This book would greatly benefit from a reading group discussion.
Curious? Check out her other books: The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, The Weight of Heaven,, Bombay Time.
Here is a link to an interview on Goodreads where she lists her 5 Favorite Books About India.
The End.
We had a marvelous discussion of this book last night. 
