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    The Story Hour: A Novel
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    The Story Hour: A Novel
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    The Story Hour: A Novel
    Ebook372 pages6 hours

    The Story Hour: A Novel

    By Thrity Umrigar

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Thrity Umrigar has an uncanny ability to look deeply into the human heart and find the absolute truth of our lives. The Story Hour is stunning and beautiful. Lakshmi and Maggie will stay with readers for a very long time.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Hummingbird's Daughter

    From the critically beloved, bestselling author of The World We Found and The Space Between Us, whom the New York Times Book Review calls a “perceptive and... piercing writer,” comes a profound, heartbreakingly honest novel about friendship, family, secrets, forgiveness, and second chances.

    An experienced psychologist, Maggie carefully maintains emotional distance from her patients. But when she meets a young Indian woman who tried to kill herself, her professional detachment disintegrates. Cut off from her family in India, Lakshmi is desperately lonely and trapped in a loveless marriage to a domineering man who limits her world to their small restaurant and grocery store.

    Moved by her plight, Maggie treats Lakshmi in her home office for free, quickly realizing that the despondent woman doesn’t need a shrink; she needs a friend. Determined to empower Lakshmi as a woman who feels valued in her own right, Maggie abandons protocol, and soon doctor and patient have become close friends.

    But while their relationship is deeply affectionate, it is also warped by conflicting expectations. When Maggie and Lakshmi open up and share long-buried secrets, the revelations will jeopardize their close bond, shake their faith in each other, and force them to confront painful choices.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 19, 2014
    ISBN9780062259325
    Unavailable
    The Story Hour: A Novel
    Author

    Thrity Umrigar

    Thrity Umrigar is the author of seven novels Everybody’s Son, The Story Hour, The World We Found, The Weight of Heaven, The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and Bombay Time; a memoir, First Darling of the Morning; and a children’s picture book, When I Carried You in My Belly. A former journalist, she was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard and was a finalist for the PEN Beyond Margins Award. A professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, she lives in Cleveland, Ohio.  

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    Reviews for The Story Hour

    4.5/5

    30 ratings27 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The first chapter is from Lakshmi's perspective and in her own limited English. Initially I felt certain this writing style was going to distract me and pull me out of the story, but I slowly grew to love it. Lakshmi's language abilities gave me a much greater understanding of the confusion and isolation she was feeling. I read the first half of the book with a lump in my throat, wanting to cry for Lakshmi's loneliness. I've read many emotional books and books which have made me cry, but very few that have made me feel for a character the way this book did. I felt less emotionally connected to Maggie than Lakshmi, but she also seemed very real. I was incredibly impressed by Thrity Umrigar's ability to write two completely different perspectives and make both believable.

      After the emotional intensity of Lakshmi's story, the ending was a bit of a let down. The focus of the story shifted to Maggie, who I found less sympathetic. I wasn't quote convinced by the way the characters' relationships changed and I found some of their choices very strange. I also expected the ending to be hugely emotional, the climax of this deeply emotional book. Instead, as with Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, we're left hanging. Everything seems to be headed in the right direction, we've just reached the stage where there's some room for optimism and the book ends! As I said in my review of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, I'm sure these open-ended conclusions work for some people. Personally, I've become more comfortable with ambiguous endings, but in these two books, I felt as though the stories deserved epic endings and instead they trailed off without a conclusion.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.
    • 5/5
      Thrity Umrigar is my new favorite. The story hour won me over. Fell in love with all the characters with their flaws and their quirky personalities specially Lakshmi. Through the writers brilliant use of similes one comes to see and understand the world Lakshmi is coming from. Couldn't put the book down till it ended. Will read more of her.
    • 4/5
      Solid choice, definitely recommended! Literary chick lit, which I mean as a compliment. Warm, rich and layered without being cloying or overly sweet. Tells a story of a relationship that forms between two women (therapist/client), each of the women and her husband, and the entanglement among them. The theme is love in all its frailties and quiet power - how it grows, withers, thrives or dies through the big and little moments in a relationship. It's also a testament to the only people who can really understand a marriage are the two in it and even then, each partner can be a mystery to the other. I loved Lakshmi particularly, and that there's potential for another novel to continue their stories.
    • 5/5
      Stories are therapeutic. Jesus, the Great Physician, told stories. For decades Reader's Digest has been telling us that laughter is the best medicine, making its case with funny stories. We all read stories, listen to stories, tell stories and watch stories on television and in movies because of how this makes us feel. And psychologists and psychiatrists attempt to help their patients by getting them to tell their stories.And so we come to "The Story Hour," Thrity Umrigar's powerful 2014 novel in which an immigrant woman from India, caught in an unhappy marriage, attempts suicide and is then assigned to a psychologist. Over time, Lakshimi shares her stories in her one-hour weekly sessions with Maggie, a black psychologist who happens to be married to Sudhir, a college professor from India. In time Lakshimi's life and marriage improve, but it turns out that Maggie has her own problems and her own stories. Although she loves her husband, she cannot resist the charms of another man, and her marriage collapses. Can Lakshimi do for Maggie what Maggie did for Lakshimi?Umrigar's novel is not nearly as simple or simplistic as that summary may suggest. She develops her characters fully, giving them many layers and many stories that reveal how they got where they are.Yes, reading "The Story Hour" is therapeutic. It makes you feel better.
    • 5/5
      Love transcending An arrange marriage find Lakshmi, a woman from a small town in India, working in her husband's restaurant in the American midwest. She is exhausted, unhappy, isolated. She attempts suicide and comes under the care of Maggie, a psychologist and African American.Maggie is married to an Indian, Sudhir, who came as a student and stayed on to become a professor and American citizen.Maggie and Lakshmi are from different cultures, have different family dynamics but their similarities as women, indeed as human beings transcends the patient doctor relationship and finds them becoming friends. Gradually understanding grows and with Maggie's help and guidance economic disparity between the two diminishes. But when secrets are revealed both judge each other unfairly in the most part because, despite their affection for each other, it's impossible for each to overcome the biases ingrained by culture.The relationship seems irreparably damaged but one woman is prepared to risk everything for make it right again.This story really shines a light on how our background and different cultures frame the way we see ourselves, our fellow human beings and the world around us. It's also a realistic, compassionate and hopeful look at the lives of millions of immigrant women from third world countries who come to reside in the west. The story has depth, humour, passion and compassion and remarkable insight. A true novel for the twenty-first century.
    • 4/5
      Another great book by this amazing author, this one is the story of Lakshmi, an Indian immigrant, whose marital misery and homesickness overwhelm her. After a suicide attempt, Lakshmi is counseled by Maggie, an American woman married to an Indian man. While Maggie first feels that she is only helping Lakshmi, when her own marriage faces challenges, Maggie finds her relationship with Lakshmi more important to her than she realized.
      My one reservation with the style of this book was the authors' decision to put Lakshmi's first person internal narrative in a sort of recreation of an Indian immigrant's heavily accented English. Obviously, Lakshmi spoke to her parents and sister in their native language, not clumsy English. And her own thoughts would not be in a language she struggles with. The recreated dialect seems disrespectful to me, as if Lakshmi's limited English mirrors a limited understanding.
    • 4/5
      An excellent story about an immigrant wife who attempts suicide and befriends her psychiatrist who has issues of her own. Most of the story flip flops between the two women, Lakshmi's chapters in her broken English, Maggie's in a third person narrative. Lots of good stuff in here about marriage, fidelity, love, personal choices and mistakes. It's a relatively easy read but still gripping and packed with emotions (for the characters and the reader).
      Recommended!
    • 3/5
      The Story Hour mostly alternates between the perspectives of Lakshmi and Maggie. Lakshmi is a 32-year-old Indian immigrant who is isolated and unloved by her domineering husband. Her life in America has been limited to her husband's small grocery store and restaurant and she has no life independent of her husband or any money of her own. Lakshmi is devastated when her only "friend," a regular customer who is kind to her, tells her that he is moving to California and she attempts suicide. She survives and ends up under the care of Maggie, a 55-year-old African-American psychologist who is also married to an Indian man. Lakshmi has prejudices and is distrustful of Maggie at first, but she slowly warms to the her when Maggie stands up to Lakshmi's husband on Lakshmi's behalf. As Maggie treats Lakshmi, the lines between the professional relationship and friendship quickly get blurred. This books deals with culture, racial & class differences, the similarities we alls hare despite those differences and forgiveness of ourselves and others.On the surface the two women could not be more different, but as you learn about their pasts you can see how many similarities they share. The different paths that Maggie and Lakshmi's lives take after the climax struck me especially, particularly after it becomes clear that the advantages that Maggie has in life will not help her situation, whereas Lakshmi's life improves despite the lack of advantages. No matter what fortune or misfortune we are born into, love is the great equalizer. We are also all equally capable of screwing our lives up!The writing is nice and I thought that a section about Maggie's final tryst was especially poetic. My favorite part of this book was Lakshmi's story arc and her stories about childhood in India. The book really makes you understand how isolating it would be to move away from your family to a completely different country with a completely different culture. Lakshmi's story is told in broken English. I thought that style was grating at times, but it probably comes off better in audio than in writing. When she was struggling to communicate, I found it a very effective device in showing the isolation she must have felt. I did not like Maggie's sections as much. It was painful watching her make mistakes that you knew were going to have severe consequences. Her romanticization of Peter, the object of her affection, was cringeworthy. When she started the "earthbound creatures" speech to her husband Sudhir, I felt so much secondhand embarrassment! I am glad he stopped her, before she could finish it! She just wasn't very self-aware or introspective when it came to her own life.I listened to this book via audio. The narration was nice, although I thought the raspy vocalization of Peter was so grating.This novel was very slowly paced. I felt like I had to force myself to get through this novel. I did start getting more interested in the last 2/3s (8 hours in!), when Lakshmi's big secret is revealed and Maggie experiences the consequences of her professional breach and infidelity. There were still a lot of questions in the end. I don't always need answers, but when I slog through something I feel like I earned some closure! Although I didn't really enjoy this novel, I think it would be a great novel for a book club because it does provoke much discussion.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed the blooming relationship of two women, culturally different, yet with much in common. Both make horrible decisions, yet you still want both women to succeed. Inspiring, thoughtful, and a wonderful read.
    • 3/5
      The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar is a recommended novel that explores the evolution and the boundaries of an unconventional friendship.

      Dr. Maggie Bose, a black psychologist, first meets Lakshmi, a young Indian immigrant, after her suicide attempt. Maggie assumes that this cry for help is due to cultural separation and isolation and perhaps an abusive husband. Maggie, who is married to an Indian man, manages to establish communication with Lakshmi. While trying to insure Lakshmi continues treatment, Maggie offers to see her for therapy at her home office for free. While Maggie tries to help, the arrangement soon morphs into something different as Lakshmi needs a friend. Maggie is quickly cast in that role and reinforces this when she tries to help Lakshmi. Soon the boundaries between patient and Dr. are breached.

      While I enjoyed The Story Hour, there are a couple little details that prevented me from giving it my highest rating.
      I absolutely had to force myself to continue reading after the first page. The chapters alternate between Lakshmi and Maggie. Maggie's chapters are in third person while Lakshmi's are written in first person. Therein lies my problem. In Lakshmi's chapters she is talking in an Indian/English patois, which I found extremely distracting and awkward to read. It did get easier as the novel progressed, but that initial impression lingered. I know other people have noticed this but it didn't bother them, so this is definitely a personal quirk. If you think you might be bothered by this, take note. Additionally, I am not so keen on Maggie's personal and professional choices. She showed a great lack of judgment in having an affair (and seemingly with little forethought) and her inability to keep professional boundaries was disturbing. I honestly didn't like her as a character.


      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes.

    • 5/5
      A well-written and interesting character study of two women whose lives are brought together initially because of the actions of the one and the profession of the other. One of the women is an immigrant from India (whose chapters are written in broken English so that it reads like you are actually hearing her), in a loveless (pre-arranged?) marriage. The other woman is a Black professional, married to an Indian man, but who also has her own set of issues/problems. Great storytelling and at times almost lyrical. Very much enjoyed, though sometimes frustrated with the actions of one of the main characters. Read for my Book Club.
    • 5/5
      When a psychologist agrees to see an Indian immigrant as a patient, lines become blurred changing both of their lives forever. An incredible story of loneliness, relationships, mistakes and forgiveness that lingers long after the last page. I will be reading all books by this talented author.
    • 5/5
      I felt this book was beautifully written. Having one of the main character's speech written in broken English made me feel like I was have a conversation with her. Terrific story about two women's lives and their differing definitions of friendship due to their differing backgrounds and upbringings. It broached several ethical issues and made you stop and think how you would react in those scenarios. Was a lovely story of how easy it is to empower a woman just by giving her some independence and support. Excellent read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this----and the audio, I'm sure, is what made it priceless listening, read by Sneha Mathan. I loved Lakshmi---at the end I wanted to just keep listening to MORE, partly because there are unanswered but hopeful questions left hanging at the end. The wonderful twists and turns and ups and downs---but was it really only "one" mistake that Maggie made? So many points of view.....
    • 3/5
      Maggie and Lakshmi become friends after Lakshmi attempts suicide. Their friendship develops despite Maggie's second thoughts. In the meantime, Maggie is cheating on her wonderful husband, gets caught and eventually loses him. The only thing she doesn't lose is her friend Lakshmi. Weak ending and not one of Umrigar's bests
    • 4/5
      What I enjoyed most about this story was the insight into another culture, and the wonderful metaphors and expressions. I couldn't help but get cross with Maggie for having an affair. The growth in Lakshmi unfolds and is uplifting to see her life being turned around. The cultural differences between the two women highlight the assumptions and biases we are capable of. Sometimes it is still difficult to understand and accept these differences, but we are definitely better for knowing about them. Professional and cultural boundaries are pushed as their friendship develops, and explores the issue of conformity.
    • 4/5
      The two women could not be more different. They came from different cultures, had different experiences during their youth and different opportunities when it came to education. And yet, yet they were the same in some unfathomable way. Maggie knew that it was wrong to become emotionally involved with a patient. She knew the consequences on her own well being, for one thing, but there was something about Lakshmi. And one thing they did have in common was India. Lakshmi and her husband ad come from that country, and they ran a fairly successful food store and restaurant. Maggie was married to a kind and gentle man who had also come from Indie. He was very unlike the cold and uncaring man that Lakshmi had married. That seemed very clear from the moment that Maggie met him.How did the two women meet? Lakshmi Tried to commit suicide. Her life was not worth living. There was no joy. She was alone in an ever deeper vortex of loneliness and lack of love. A combination that can end up being fatal in so many ways. Maggie was given an uncooperative Lakshmi as a patient, because the fact that she too was a woman might help help open the lines of communication.Despite her own misgivings, Maggie did allow herself to become not only therapist, but first mentor and then friend of sorts with Lakshmi. Even Sudhir, Maggie's husband became friendly with the fragile but seemingly needy and sweet woman. She was present in their lives as an employee as well, after her treatment allowed her to gain some confidence and begin a cleaning and catering business. Everyone involved seemed to be happier.Things are not always what they seem. Secrets shared are no longer secrets. Sometimes there are consequences for trust.
    • 5/5
      The Story Hour is about the relationship of Maggie and Lakshmi and their journey from patient/therapist to friends. It’s also about their individual personal lives, especially their marriages. Both women have secrets which were shocking to me as a reader and to each other when they are revealed. At no time was this story predictable, which I loved.I liked that Maggie and Lakshmi were both flawed. There was no good guy/bad guy juxtaposition. They were both so well-drawn. Everything they did was organic and authentic. I sympathized with them at times and at other times I wanted to reach through the pages and shake them.Because I loved The World We Found, I had high hopes for The Story Hour. I was not disappointed – it’s an amazing book.
    • 5/5
      Perfection. What a fabulous story! My only regret is that I wasn't able to just sit down and read this from cover to cover. The author made me feel the characters which is exactly what I want to experience when I read. It was believable and genuine in plot and character reactions. I wouldn't change a thing, even if I was hoping for a slightly different ending. I can't wait to read her other work.I recommend "The Story Hour" to anyone who wants to live through their reading. It is an experience that is heightened by the mix of Indian culture and the new awakening of life in the story teller. A truly satisfying read for me.
    • 4/5
      Storytelling and helping others was what Lakshmi did best along with her cooking and work ethics. Her life was a story to tell, and she had Maggie to listen and to learn from her stories.THE STORY HOUR takes the reader through the lives of Lakshmi and Maggie...one the patient and one the doctor. The women met when Lakshmi tried to commit suicide.Maggie broke the rules of patient/client protocol, but Maggie couldn't help it because she and Lakshmi were meant to be friends and confidantes. Maggie truly helped Lakshmi feel more confident as she tried to fit into the American way of life, and at the same time Lakshmi helped Maggie as she was struggling with "demons" of her own that stemmed from her childhood.Ms. Umrigar has written another marvelous novel about an Indian woman trying to fit into her lonely, boring life with her American husband who really didn't love her. She also touches on infidelity issues with Maggie and what damage it does.The book smoothly moved back and forth from past to present telling about the lives of both women and how their backgrounds shaped them into the woman they were today.You will love Lakshmi just because she was a warm, caring, genuine person that you will feel sorry for but also one that you will cheer on as she struggles to overcome her shortcomings and feelings of worthlessness. Maggie on the other hand was a bit more difficult to like because she had it all and couldn't grasp how her infidelity would change things.The writing was beautiful as well as the storyline. I would recommend THE STORY HOUR for book clubs. It has many issues, situations, and meanings worth discussing. 4/5You have to read THE STORY HOUR in order to feel the full impact and the power of this marvelous book.You will be immersed in cultures, food, friendships, and determination.This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Thrity Umrigar's books are distinctly pleasurable contributions to the Immigrants in America genre. The Story Hour raises the bar by introducing an African American character, a therapist married to an Indian man.The book opens with Lakshmi's suicide attempt. In the mental hospital, her therapist Maggie tries to find out the reason for her depression. Lakshmi and Maggie's meeting changes both their lives.Friend? Patient? Maggie and Lakshmi must work outside the designated boxes to save each other. Both women have experienced great losses and have made poor choices. There is such depth of feelings written into the innermost thoughts of the characters, including the husbands and a lover. The narrative voices are realistic and strong, the writing is compelling. Umrigar is on an upward trajectory and gets distinctively better with each book. I'm very happy she's prolific.
    • 4/5
      Thrity Umrigar seems to just instinctively understand people, how they tick, and the misunderstandings and mistakes that can happen when people with very different cultures, classes, or pasts come together. She proved it in The Space Between Us and The Weight of Heaven and she's back with her astute insights into very different women in her latest novel, The Story Hour. Lakshmi is an Indian woman who works for her husband in his restaurant and grocery store in a Midwestern city. Her husband denigrates her at every turn and has cut her off from the family she loves in India. When a regular customer who has always treated Lakshmi with kindness and respect confides that he is moving to California, Lakshmi is devastated. Feeling as if his leaving takes the only good thing from her life, she decides to commit suicide by taking a bunch of her husband's pills. She is unsuccessful and when she wakes up in the hospital, she is no less broken than before her attempt, unwilling to cooperate or even speak with doctors. Maggie is the psychologist assigned to Lakshmi. She's always been adept at the hard cases but she suspects that it isn't her undeniable skill but rather her color (she's African American) and her marriage (she's married to an Indian man) that made her boss so sure that Maggie can help Lakshmi. Whatever the ultimate reason, Maggie can indeed help Lakshmi and Lakshmi is willing to let her. After releasing her from the hospital, Maggie takes to treating Lakshmi pro bono from her office at her home. Their therapy sessions quickly become hours where Lakshmi tells Maggie about her past in India and the woman she was before she came to America. In treating Lakshmi in this unconventional way, Maggie is blurring the lines between therapist and friend, a necessary distinction in her profession and therefore an unforgivable lapse. Sudhir, Maggie's steady and dependable mathematics professor husband, also comes to like Lakshmi, helping to encourage her to become empowered, to start a catering business, and to clean for their friends. Lakshmi, in turn, appreciates Sudhir for all the ways in which he is so different from her own husband. Maggie remains torn about whether to call her relationship with Lakshmi a friendship or not, never sharing the realities of her own life with her patient, but she is so entwined into Lakshmi's life that it is more than just a patient doctor relationship; it is in fact a fledgling friendship no matter what reservations Maggie has. But this fragile friendship, built on the flimsiest of commonalities cannot sustain itself in the face of judgment and betrayal. Umrigar has written an incandescent tale of secrets and expectations, the way in which we cannot bury our past, the long reaching scars of abuse, the power of stories and of finding a voice, and the small everyday gestures that show our love more than any flash and excitement can. Her characters are multi-layered and complex and the reader's feelings about each of them changes over time and with the revelations and choices they make. Maggie's secrets are always visible to the reader while Lakshmi's are slowly revealed through her story hours with Maggie. This keeps taut what would otherwise be a quiet story. The narration alternates between Maggie and Lakshmi, the latter of whom's sections are written in the dialect of an immigrant whose English is imperfect. This makes Lakshmi sound authentic but can be a little difficult to read in the beginning. It is not a dramatic story but a gorgeously rendered tale of truth and its cost, words and their value, actions and their result. The ending is left only partially resolved but it is fitting within the larger framework of the rest of the novel. Umrigar has written another incisive and beautiful cross-cultural tale here, one which fans of literary fiction will certainly appreciate.
    • 3/5
      I won this book from Goodreads. I liked it but I didn't love it. I found it very hard to read anything written in Lakshmi's voice - while it was very authentic to write as an Indian woman who did not speak English very well, it was also very distracting. I also did not like what happened to the character of Sudhir at the end - it did not seem true to who he was throughout the rest of the book. But overall, I enjoyed the story.
    • 5/5
      Loved the characters ; I will never forget this story! A new author to me and I’m addicted!
    • 2/5
      2.5 stars- I really wanted to like this book, but sadly, the characters seemed flat and underdeveloped. Not my favorite novel by this amazing author.
    • 5/5
      I gobbled this book up. I had admired "The Space Between Us" and this one, if anything, outdid her earlier work. Told from two women's points of view--an unhappy Indian immigrant and the African-American therapist she is sent to after a suicide attempt. They cannot overcome the cultural divide between them completely; there are misunderstandings and wounded feelings. But there is also friendship and mutual admiration, and each woman's world widens as the result of the other's attention and queries. A remarkable novel.
    • 5/5
      Lakshmi Patil is an immigrant with an angry, unloving husband and no family or friends. In her abject loneliness she decides to commit suicide. Maggie Bose is a trained psychologist who is asked to see Lakshmi in the hospital. Something about the woman touches Maggie’s heart and she agrees to provide therapy without cost. The lines become blurred as their relationship less professional and more friendly. Both women are hiding significant secrets – from themselves, from each other, from their spouses, friends and family. Umrigar alternates viewpoints between these two women. Lakshmi’s chapters are written in a broken English that was at first off-putting, but which I came to appreciate for how clearly that voice represented her. The reader gets a true sense of her loneliness, confusion, difficulties in understanding this language and culture so different from her native land, and the progress she makes. In contrast, Maggie’s chapters show her education, social position, and training as a psychologist. And yet, for all her ability to see the possible stories and motivations behind the actions and words of her patient/friend (or other people she comes into contact with), she seems blind to her own motivations. I was completely engaged from page one through all the ups and downs of the story. I was anxious about how things would work out, sympathized with them when feelings were hurt, felt anger at some situations, and eagerly hoped for a resolution. I’m glad that Umrigar left the ending somewhat ambiguous, but I have hope that these characters will find their way to understanding and forgiveness.