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Bombay Time – Thirty Umrigar
4****

Umrigar’s debut novel focuses on the residents of a particular middle-class apartment building in Bombay.

The apartment dwellers who have long lived at Wadi Baug come together to celebrate the wedding of one young man. As they arrive at the reception, each, in turn, reflects on his/her life and how they came to live in this community of Parsi men and women. One man descends into alcoholism. A woman is an incorrigible gossip. One man thinks on his betrayal and heartbreak. A widow who has retreated into herself is finally seen with compassion. One local man has risen above and become very wealthy, but still lives in the same apartment because it feels like home. And a couple struggle to find the love and attraction that drew them together in the first place.

Umrigar’s writing is full of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of this vibrant community. Several scenes are shockingly brutal – abject poverty, violence, pestilence. And then there are scenes of loving tenderness – a new baby, a man’s love for his wife, the devotion between a mother and daughter.




LINK to my review