First Darling of the Morning
Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood
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4.2 • 17 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
“[Umrigar] communicates her childhood longing for a cohesive family in deeply felt portraits of those she loves. . . . It is this combination of personal revelation and empathetic observation that makes Umrigar’s memoir so appealing.”— Washington Post Book World
From the bestselling author of The Space Between Us and If Today Be Sweet comes a sensitive, beautifully written memoir of Thrity Umrigar’s youth in India, told with the honesty and guilelessness that only a child’s point of view could provide.
In a series of incredibly poignant stories, Thrity Umrigar traces the arc of her Bombay childhood and adolescence—from her earliest memories growing up in a middle-class Parsi household to her eventual departure for the U.S. at age 21. Her emotionally charged scenes take an unflinching look at family issues once considered unspeakable—including intimate secrets, controversial political beliefs, and the consequences of child abuse. Punishments and tempered hopes, struggles and small successes all weave together in this evocative, unforgettable coming-of-age tale.
First Darling of the Morning also offers readers a fascinating glimpse at the 1960s and 70s Bombay of Umrigar’s memories. Two coming-of-age stories collide in this memoir—one of a small child, and one of a nation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Freelance journalist Umrigar alternates between sweet and biting accounts of her middle-class Parsi upbringing in 1960s and 1970s Bombay. With a mixture of rawness and warmth, she recalls moments from her tumultuous childhood through her teenage years, and finally into her early 20s when she leaves India for the U.S. She describes her mother's strictness with her and other children (her mother doesn't think twice to strike disobedient kids with a cane), tempering these scenes with memories of the tight bond with her father as well as her Aunt Mehroo's unflappable love. As she encounters worker strikes and student protests, she begins to understand class differences and the gap between her privileged, private school background and India's poverty. In the end, Umrigar's memoir is colorful and moving.
