More than a decade since her bestselling novel, The Space Between Us, Thrity Umrigar continues Bhima's unforgettable story in this stunning sequel. "The women at the heart of this novel inhabit the harsh world of the urban Indian poor, and struggle separately and together for dignity and survival.

Poor and illiterate, Bhima had faithfully worked for the Dubash family, an upper-middle-class Parsi household, for more than twenty years. Yet after courageously speaking the truth about a heinous crime perpetrated against her own family, the devoted servant was cruelly fired. The sting of that dismissal was even more painful coming from Sera Dubash, the temperamental employer who had long been Bhima’s only confidante. A woman who has endured despair and loss with stoicism, Bhima must now find some other way to support herself and her granddaughter, Maya.

Bhima’s misfortunes take an unexpected turn when her path intersects with Parvati, a bitter, taciturn older woman. The two acquaintances soon form a tentative business partnership, selling fruit and vegetables at the local market. As they work together, these two women seemingly bound by fate grow closer, confessing to each other the truth about their lives and the wounds that still haunt them. Discovering her first true friend, Bhima weaves a new life, and together the two women learn to stand on their own.

“[W]onderful….  [Umrigar] knocked it out of the park with this one.  Her writing is beautifully descriptive and her characters are absolutely fabulous.”