Frank and Ellie Benton have suffered what no parents should, the loss of their 7-year-old son, Benny. When Frank is offered a chance to manage a factory in Girbaud, India, the couple leap at the opportunity to get away from the constant reminders of their loss. But Frank transfers his love for his son onto Ramesh, the engaging, bright child of the people who take care of their house. His inability to truly get past the death of his own child and his desperate attachment to this Indian boy lead to a series of increasingly bad decisions.
Umrigar shows us the intersection where East and West meet, on a painfully personal level. There is no idealization of India here. Cultural warts are on full display. As are the more attractive elements of the Indian culture that make Ellie Benton feel that she is becoming truly local. Larger issues are brought to the fore as well, conflicts between tradition and modernity, between globalization and local values, between haves and have nots at several levels. And while the insensitivity of the corporate West is portrayed, neither is the West pilloried as having nothing to offer the Indian people.
It is a fast and intensely engaging read. I was moved to tears by this story. I had to stop myself from publicly dripping on the subways where I do most of my book reading, saving that for more private places. That this tale is so emotionally charged does not make it a melodramatic weepy. Do read it armed with some tissues, but the joy here is how well Umrigar portrays the details of grief, of a marriage under enormous stress. It is also more than merely a personal tale. The title refers to morality, and the choices characters make here are to be seen through the lens of right and wrong and her characters' struggle with what they want conflicting with what they believe to be right. Her ability to effectively portray personal trauma while painting a larger picture of disparate worlds intersecting, and do so in an accessible, personal way makes this is a wonderful novel.