A review by richardrbecker
Honor by Thrity Umrigar
dark
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Thiry Umrigar depicts a side of India that few people see. This side isn't a brightly illuminated urban landscape filled with visionaries and thought leaders poised to usher in a global powerhouse but rather a rural landscape clinging to misogyny, poverty, caste systems, and secular discrimination so severe that public shaming and execution are accepted.
That's not to say Umrigar's protagonist isn't allied with the former. Smita Agarwal is an American journalist born in India but left with her family to the United States as a teen. Being back in her country, as a favor to a colleague, opens up old wounds as she investigates a disturbing crime in a backward village named Birwad. She enlists the help of her friend's associate Mohan, who not only helps her navigate a chauvinist landscape but is deeply grounded in the country's philosophical tradition rather than its secular or patriarchal one.
While the primary plot follows Smita's investigation into the burning of a Muslim man at the hands of his wife's Hindu brothers, Smita carries her own skeletons — secrets that could undermine her relationship with Mohan and possibly jeopardize her safety. Along with Smita's story, Umrigar inserts several passages from the point of view of the widow, Meena, who broke with the village's tradition by first taking a job outside the home and then marrying a Muslim, thereby dishonoring her family.
Overall, Honor is an excellent read that delves into the pitfalls of entrenched social conditioning. Umrigar does a fantastic job presenting this dehumanizing world as casually accepted by everyone involved. The only question mark comes in at the end, leaving us to wonder about Smita's surprise decision.
While I won't share it in this review, it doesn't strike me as something an American journalist would do. But who knows? Other readers may feel differently, affording Smita more flexibility in placing philosophical consideration and heritage ahead of the only life she had ever known.
That's not to say Umrigar's protagonist isn't allied with the former. Smita Agarwal is an American journalist born in India but left with her family to the United States as a teen. Being back in her country, as a favor to a colleague, opens up old wounds as she investigates a disturbing crime in a backward village named Birwad. She enlists the help of her friend's associate Mohan, who not only helps her navigate a chauvinist landscape but is deeply grounded in the country's philosophical tradition rather than its secular or patriarchal one.
While the primary plot follows Smita's investigation into the burning of a Muslim man at the hands of his wife's Hindu brothers, Smita carries her own skeletons — secrets that could undermine her relationship with Mohan and possibly jeopardize her safety. Along with Smita's story, Umrigar inserts several passages from the point of view of the widow, Meena, who broke with the village's tradition by first taking a job outside the home and then marrying a Muslim, thereby dishonoring her family.
Overall, Honor is an excellent read that delves into the pitfalls of entrenched social conditioning. Umrigar does a fantastic job presenting this dehumanizing world as casually accepted by everyone involved. The only question mark comes in at the end, leaving us to wonder about Smita's surprise decision.
While I won't share it in this review, it doesn't strike me as something an American journalist would do. But who knows? Other readers may feel differently, affording Smita more flexibility in placing philosophical consideration and heritage ahead of the only life she had ever known.