SOCIAL MEDIA

Review: The Weight of Heaven

I have seen this book at the book store and on several blogs over the past few months but when I saw TLC Book Tours was touring the book I thought it was time to read it. I was lucky enough to get this book from the library with no wait.

About the author: Thrity Umrigar is the author of three other novels—The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and Bombay Time—and the memoir First Darling of the Morning. A journalist for 17 years, she is the winner of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University and a 2006 finalist for the PEN/Beyond Margins Award. An associate professor of English at Case Western - Reserve University, Umrigar lives in Cleveland (courtesy TLC Book Tours)

Click here to listen to a few interviews with the author (I recommend the NPR interview).

Synopsis: When Frank and Ellie Benton lose their only child, seven-year-old Benny, to a sudden illness, the perfect life they had built is shattered. Filled with wrenching memories, their Ann Arbor home becomes unbearable, and their marriage founders. But an unexpected job half a world away offers them an opportunity to start again. Life in Girbaug, India, holds promise—and peril—when Frank befriends Ramesh, a bright, curious boy who quickly becomes the focus of the grieving man's attentions. Haunted by memories of his dead son, Frank is consumed with making his family right—a quest that will lead him down an ever-darkening path with stark repercussions.

Type: Fiction, 384 pages, Hardcover

Quick Take: I really enjoyed this novel! The story grabs your attention right away and keeps you engaged until the last page. Although I am not participating in the TLC book tour I can’t wait to read the reviews. 2010 just began but I think this will be one of my favorites for this year. The storyline is unique, the ending might surprise you, I loved it! I would love to discus this book with others, I might see if the Omaha Bookworm’s would like to read it as a 2010 book selection.

Source: Library