November Harrow Women’s Book Club: Honor by Thrity Umrigar

Synopsis

Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena – a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man – Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.

In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal and sacrifice, Thrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time.

CLOSEST TRAIN STATIONS
• Harrow & Wealdstone 4minwalk.
• Harrow on the hill 10 min bus (get off at stop: Harrow and Wealdstone station) and then it’s a 4minwalk.
• There is bus stop for H9 and H10 right outside The Palm House, stop: Palmerston Road.

PARKING
• Palmerston Road car park 2minwalk (quite a small car park)
• Harrow and Wealdstone station car park, about 4min walk
• Some street parking but not loads