Honor - by Thrity Umrigar

About the Book

"The story of two Indian women, one a victim of a brutal crime and the other an Americanized journalist returning to India to cover the story, and the courage they inspire in each other"--

Book Synopsis

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.

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--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.

At the same time Smita 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 that she can decide, later, how much it means to her.

In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to themselves and to their homeland at the same time.

Review Quotes

"Honor is an utterly engrossing novel about two very different women whose lives converge after an unspeakable act of violence in India. With insight and compassion, Thrity Umrigar writes masterfully about the complexities of hatred and love, estrangement and belonging, oppression and privilege, about holding on and letting go. A powerful, important, unforgettable book."
--Cheryl Strayed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wild

"Honor is a novel of profound depths--cultural, personal, romantic, spiritual. It's also a story of tremendous grace, both in the understanding it shows its characters and in the ways they navigate a brutal but stunning life."
--Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Great Believers

"Umrigar excels in her juxtaposition of the contrasts between the tech hub image of contemporary India and the deep religious divisions that continue to wrack rural regions . . . This is a thought-provoking portrait of an India that 'felt inexpressibly large--as well as small and provincial enough to choke.'"
--Booklist

"In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of Afghanistan's women, Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one who knows the many facets of a land both modern and ancient, awash in contradictions, permeated by a smoldering mix of ageless traditions and new ideas, beauty and brutality, hope and despair, certainty and mystery. A place where love can sometimes involve the peril of defying convention . . . and ultimately risking everything for what matters most."
--Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

"With Honor, Thrity Umrigar continues her habit of laying bare the folly of our perceived differences. This is an intense and spellbinding novel, ricocheting between fear and hope, betrayal and redemption. It is the story of the human heart in all its complexities, and love worth fighting for."
--Connie Schultz, bestselling author of The Daughters of Erietown