A review by bri_14
Honor by Thrity Umrigar

emotional tense

5.0

This book felt so important and balanced. The comparison between both leading ladies and how they dealt with love—with men and India—was done so well. One thing Smita and Meena had in common was they both were risk takers, punishment be damned. But I was gettin real annoyed with Ammi being so rude! She couldn’t get over
the loss of her son
Meena could! Very selfish even if it was rooted in valid emotions. 

I think it said A LOT about herd mentality esp among men. The amount of ppl that witnessed or participated in the violence was ridiculous. Only to wanna cower down years later and be sympathetic. The damage was done! And for Meena’s village to be ruled by Rupal was ridiculous. No one man should have all that pull over people. The fact that he said he had a phone with a direct line to God should have made these people wake up! He was taking advantage of their culture so bad. 

Despite the terribleness, the tender moments of Meena/Abdul and Smita/Mohan were so so good. Both really encapsulated the point of this book to me. In spite of the darkness their home brought there was a spark of light. In a twisted way Meena
might’ve been better off reunited with Abdul instead of with their daughter bc she didn’t have the resources or privilege to protect everybody. But her final stand was really sad


It wasn’t a main focus but it does bring up a good point of when involvement teeters past education and dips towards trauma porn. These are real people not a story that’ll get you front page headlines and awards. 
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