How does Bhima’s past fit into her present? Are Bhima’s misfortunes her greatest treasures? Are the secrets we carry a unifying element in our relationships? Is holding onto grief the way we legitimize the things we have lost or broken?
Thrity Umrigar takes you back to India where the first book, The Spaces Between Us, left off. The Secrets Between Us allows you to peek into daily Indian life and culture through the eyes of two poor elderly females Bhima and Parvati.
Bhima is raising her granddaughter, Maya, after losing her own daughter to AIDS. Bhima struggles to put Maya through college and takes multiple jobs after being fired from the Dubash family. Bhima gets a small taste of independence, selling fruit in the marketplace and balancing housework for the rich while playing tug-of-war with the caste system in India. She watches Maya changing along with Mumbai but isn’t sure how she fits into this picture.
Parvati has nothing except a large mass growth to call her own. Her secrets lay deep within the darkness of her past where only she alone can find them. Her health and life depend on selling six old cauliflower at the fruit market until Bhima and her develop a business plan. Tougher than nails, Parvati relies on her past to gather strength and courage in her present. She challenges religion, the culture, and her newfound companion Bhima. The ending of this book was majestic and I was sad that it was over.