The interviews with the men of the village are simply terrible to read - the bigotry, sexism, and cruelty is impossible to fully express. She’s outraged and furious, struggling to maintain her journalistic distance, all the while becoming more invested in Meena’s life and in her own growing connection to Mohan, the man who acts as her travel companion and protector as she journeys to Meena’s village. Meena’s case is perhaps too close and personal for Smita. Still, we know that something bad happened, enough for Smita to have sworn never to return to her homeland, instead living an austere, independent life, traveling the globe to report on gender issues worldwide. Smita and her family relocated to the US when she was a teen, but we don’t learn the circumstances until late in the book. Meena’s story of life in a small village stuck in old oppressive traditions and belief systems is counter-balanced by Smita’s own experiences and memories, which unfold slowly over the course of the novel. If she wins, they could face life imprisonment - but even if she does win, Meena can never get back what she lost. Smita’s friend was covering a sensational trial: A Hindu woman, Meena, horribly disfigured by the fire that killed her Muslim husband, is suing her two brothers, the men responsible for the horrendous attack. In Honor, expat Smita returns to India after 20 years abroad to fill in for her best friend and fellow journalist while she recovers from an injury. Honor is a powerful, painful book - it’s impossible to put down, and yet left me feeling practically bruised by the trauma experienced by its characters. In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Thrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time. 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. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales.
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. 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. In this riveting and immersive novel, bestselling author Thrity Umrigar tells the story of two couples and the sometimes dangerous and heartbreaking challenges of love across a cultural divide.
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