Youthful activism grows up in Thrity Umrigar’s latest novel

Thrity Umrigar, author, neighbor and professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, said that a chance meeting with an old friend was the inspiration for her fifth and latest novel, The World We Found.

While on a visit to India in 2008, Umrigar encountered an old friend whom she had not seen in 25 years. During their conversation, the friend spoke about how the Hindu-Muslim riots of the early 1990s had changed her forever. The conversation lingered in Umrigar’s mind as she pondered how youthful idealism often changes over time, an idea she explores in her new novel.

The World We Found is the story of four women and the two men who loved them. All were university students, close friends and political activists during the 1970s, a time when the Indian government declared a state of emergency and suspended elections and civil liberties. The novel opens with the news that Armaiti, the friend who left India to study in the United States, married and later divorced her American husband, has developed a brain tumor.

This devastating news will bring the four women together once again. But this is not a book about only the women. What prevents this novel from falling into the “chick lit” category is that Umrigar develops her male characters as fully as her female ones.  

Iqbal, the only Muslim in the group, has married Nishta against the wishes of both families, and has become a religious fundamentalist. The author describes his religious devotion with compassion and a deep understanding of what he has suffered for his faith.

“Iqbal rose from the floor. He could still feel the imprint of the cool tile of the masjid floor where he had prostrated himself a moment ago. The cool was a welcome comfort from the hot, busy thoughts that raced like red ants through his mind. So was the peace that he’d felt during the evening namaaz, as the sonorous, musical chanting and the repetition of prayer . . . fell like raindrops over his fevered brow.”  

Umrigar takes her time, allowing this engrossing tale to unfold at a leisurely pace. She has certainly done her homework, and the scenes in which Armaiti begins to experience new and frightening symptoms of her illness are among the most affecting and authentic in the book.

Armaiti, walking on the beach, turned to face the ocean, when suddenly “she felt something come loose inside her head. That’s how she remembered the feeling later.” The world around her, so sharp a moment ago, disappeared and became a fuzzy image. “The inclination was to panic, of course. Every cell, every electrical impulse in her body was ready for battle, to go into overdrive. And Armaiti gave into her fear, caught in its undertow. She blinked furiously and shut her eyes, but each time she opened them the world remained unclear.”

Of the book’s six main characters, some are more believable than others. Adish may seem a little too good to be true, but who wouldn’t want a spouse as understanding, loving and supportive as Umrigar presents him.

Umrigar has said that "in the West, we conflate Islamic fundamentalisn with terrorism," and that she "wanted to write a novel that spoke of religious conservatism from a non-American, non-9/11 perspective, but one that still captured the anxieties of our age." She has succeeded in doing just that.

The cold, dark days of winter in Cleveland are here—a great time to curl up with a good book. Thrity Umrigar’s The World We Found may be that warm and satisfying read you’re seeking. Pick up a copy at your local independent bookstore or library.