Review: The Secrets Between Us

The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a story that I absolutely loved. It was a surprise when I realized that it was the second book with the same characters and basically a continuation of the first book, The Space Between Us byThrity Umrigar. You could read this as a stand alone, but would be better to read the first book as well.

Bhima continues to do housework and cooking and raising her granddaughter in the slums in Mumbai, having lost her daughter and her husband to AIDS. We do get a much better insight into how Bhima lost her good job of many years with the same family and especially losing what she always thought of as her family. She was an integral part of that family and loved the children just as her own.

Years before Bhima's husband had left her and had taken their son with him. He had been doing a lot of drinking and Bhima had "shown" him up in front of his buddies. That left Bhima alone and had to face the death of her daughter and son in law on her own and assume the raising her her granddaughter.

An excellent read.