Honor

THE JANUARY 2022 REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK ΓÇ£In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of AfghanistanΓÇÖs women,Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one who knows the many facets of a land both modern and ancientawash in contradictions.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöLisa Wingate#1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours In this riveting and immersive novelbestselling author Thrity Umrigar tells the story of two couples and the sometimes dangerous and heartbreaking challenges of love across a cultural divide. Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a storybut reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of MeenaΓÇöa Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim manΓÇöSmita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than oneΓÇÖs own heartand a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of SmitaΓÇÖs own past. While MeenaΓÇÖs fate hangs in the balanceSmita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohanan 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 affairknowing she can decide later how much it means to her. In this tender and evocative novel about lovehopefamilial devotionbetrayaland sacrificeThrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time.