Book Review: The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar is one of those books that you just find that you lose time while reading it. Every time I had to put it down for some reason I wanted to get back to it. I’ve read one other of Thrity Umrigar’s books and that was The Weight of Heaven (my review) and I loved that one as well. She has a way of drawing you so completely into her stories that you feel as though you’re a part of the character’s lives that you’re reading about. I love her descriptions of India and their culture and she has definitely become one of my favorite authors.

The World We Found really appealed to me as it’s about the powerful bond of women’s friendships. Armaiti, Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta all meet in college in Bombay in the 70’s and quickly become inseperable. They all believed in making the world a better place and fought for that until one night a protest goes too far. After that the women drift apart to live their lives and go on to get married and have children.

Now, it’s many years later and news comes that one of the women, Armaiti, has a brain tumor and one of her wishes is to see all of her friends together again in America. Laleh and Kavita instantly agree and begin planning their visit but they wonder about Nishta who they all fell out of contact with twenty-five years ago. They decide to try and find her and go to visit Nishta’s parents. They are surprised to learn that Nishta had been shunned by her family and they didn’t know where she was. As they’re leaving though a maid brings an envelope out from Nishta’s mother and it was just what they needed – an address.

The women are shocked at the turn that Nishta’s life has taken. Her husband had become a religious fanatic and he virtually holds her prisoner. As Nishta’s sister-in-law becomes involved as well, the women all work to try and devise a plan to get Nishta away from her husband and to America. While all this is going on each woman is going back in her memory to a different time and place – a time when they were all carefree and best friends.

At its heart, The World We Found is a novel of how the friendships of women endure over time. No matter the distance or the drifting apart a phone call can change everything and bring you together again to be there for each other. I enjoyed this novel a great deal and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to those who like novels about women’s friendships but also to those who enjoy reading about India and their culture.

I read The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. Be sure and pop by the other tour stops and see what everyone else is saying about the book. You can find out more information on Thrity Umrigar’s work on her website. The World We Found can be purchased here in the US and here in Canada.

Source: Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the Publisher. No compensation was received for this review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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