The Space Between Us

I finished "The Space Between Us" by Thrity Umrigar last night. I stayed up past 11 (which is late for me) so I could finish the final chapters. The book got off to a bit of a slow start but the last 100 pages were very good. It is set in Bombay, India and tells the story of two women: Sera, an upper-middle class Parsi housewife, and her domestic servant, Bhima. They belong to different classes of the caste system in India, but find themselves both enslaved. Sera is trapped in a marriage to man who frequently abuses her and also has a mother-in-law that is viciously mean. Bhima is trapped in a life of poverty.

Although their economic conditions are as different as night and day, their lives intersect through a course of events which are revealed in the final chapters of the book. It's a great story and worth checking out, especially if you have any interestbook in that part of the world (as I do).