HonorHonor

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 - 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. At the same time Smita 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 that she can decide, later, how much it means to her. In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to themselves and to their homeland at the same time.