Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Poignant, evocative, and unforgettable, The Space Between Us is an intimate portrait of a distant yet familiar world. Set in modern-day India, it is the story of two compelling and achingly real women: Sera Dubash, an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife whose opulent surroundings hide the shame and disappointment of her abusive marriage, and Bhima, a stoic illiterate hardened by a life of despair and loss, who has worked in the Dubash household for more than twenty years. A powerful and perceptive literary masterwork, author Thrity Umrigar's extraordinary novel demonstrates how the lives of the rich and poor are intrinsically connected yet vastly removed from each other, and how the strong bonds of womanhood are eternally opposed by the divisions of class and culture.

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I couldn't put it down	Customer Rating:
I liked this book very much because it gave me insight into the culture of India. I wish the book had been longer. I loved it. Very indepth with respect to the feelings of the characters.

well written

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The author's style takes the reader to a world far different than the one most people would know. Her abilty to shape characters and describe their surroundings creates empathy for the struggles people endure in other cultures. However, the ending of the story felt weak in comparison to the emotional heights and depths throughout this complex tale. I felt cheated at the end-as if the author couldn't quite figure out how to bring the story to a conclusion so she just stopped writing.

An Accurate, Yet Bleak Portrayal of Modern Indian Life

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The divide between the rich and poor is portrayed wonderfully in this brilliant novel. Written through the eyes of an elderly servant living in the slums of Bombay, and an upper middle class Parsi woman, the past and the present of borth women are interwoven as the story unfolds. Through the novel, the trials and tribulations of the past, present, and future of both women come to light. The fact that the author manages to make seamless transitions into flashbacks that offer an adequate background into what these two women have experienced. This helps the reader better understand the two women and how their current states of mind were sculpted. It also shows how talented this author truly is. This book was certainly a page turner, and the ending adds realism to what is really a tragic portrayal of how punishing life can be. This was recommended to me by my mother, who is a Parsi, and I was delighted to see that her name shows up as one of the characters in the book. It offered a nice tutorial on the Parsi culture as well, for those who are interested.

Imitation of Life

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Set in modern-day India and told through two women, the movel shows how the lives of the rich and the poor are intrinsically connnected yet vastly removed from each other, and captures how the bonds of womamhood are pitted against the divisions of class and culture. Reminded me of the Lana Turner movie Imitation of Life. An interesting book that makes you thik about how fortunate we in America really are.

The Space Between Is

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This was one of the best books I have read. My interest in India was deepened with this moving, insightful and detailed work of art about the relationship between families and the people who care for them over a life time. The secrets and lies that are carried within a family; and the universal longing for love and sweetness in all our lives. The poverty described in this book and of course in India is heart breaking and sobering. The choices one is forced to make just to be able to barely survive is a reality check for all of us. I applaud Thrity Umrigar and hope you will enjoy it also - it is a special treat.