First Darling of the Morning [Hardcover]

Thrity Umrigar (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (2008)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001HXWJQ2
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,136,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thrity Umrigar is the best-selling author of the novels Bombay Time, The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet and The Weight of Heaven. She is also the author of the memoir, First Darling of the Morning. Her books have been translated into many languages and published in numerous countries.

The Space Between Us was a finalist for the PEN/Beyond Margins award, while her memoir was a finalist for the Society of Midland Authors award. Thrity was recently awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize for midcareer artists.

Thrity was born in Bombay, India and came to the U.S. when she was 21. As a Parsi child attending a Catholic school in a predominantly Hindu country, sh had the kind of schizophrenic and cosmopolitan childhood that has served her well in her life as a writer. Accused by teachers and parents alike of being a daydreaming, absent-minded child, she grew up lost in the fictional worlds created by Steinbeck, Hemingway, Woolf and Faulkner. She would emerge long enough from these books to create her own fictional and poetic worlds. Encouraged by her practical-minded parents to get an undergraduate degree in business, Thrity survived business school by creating a drama club and writing, directing and acting in plays. Her first short stories, essays and poems were published in national magazines and newspapers in India at age fifteen.

After earning a M.A. in journalism Thrity worked for several years working as an award-winning reporter, columnist and magazine writer in America. She also earned a Ph.D. in English. In 1999, Thrity won a one-year Nieman Fellowship to Harvard, which is given to mid-career journalists.

While at Harvard, Thrity wrote Bombay Time. The publication and success of the novel allowed her to make a career change and in 2002 she accepted a teaching position at Case Western Reserve University, where she teaches creative writing, journalism and literature. She also does occasional freelance pieces for national publications and has written for the Washington Post's and the Boston Globe's book pages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please Write More!, January 23, 2009

By 

Pink Roses (White Rock, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood (P.S.) (Paperback)

After reading "The Space Between Us" I went on the search for more books written by Ms.Umrigar. First Darling of the Morning is spellbinding - it just gets under your skin and every time you are forced to put the book down you can't wait to pick it back up to find out what will happen. She is remarkably candid and honest about her family and herself. I appreciated her self-awareness and willingness to reveal her weaknesses and motivations. Her descriptions of herself and her family members are so vivid you feel that you know them and when the book ends you are left wishing there was more. Regardless of race, geography, culture, religion we are all linked by our humanity. Thrity Umrigar's work makes the world a smaller and more compassionate place.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From S. Krishna's Books, March 4, 2009

By 

skrishna (http://www.skrishnasbooks.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood (P.S.) (Paperback)

First Darling of the Morning is a series of glimpses into author Thrity Umrigar's childhood, growing up in Bombay at a time when the country of India was still new and unstable. The stories start at a very young age with some of Umrigar's earliest memories and continue until she is twenty years old and leaving India for the great uncertainty of the United States.

This isn't a solid memoir, though; there are gaps in between each story, sometimes of a few days, sometimes of a few years. It allows the author to pick and choose which of her memories she wants to share with the reader. Sometimes they are humorous and sometimes they are incredibly painful. Each is a part of a larger story: the tale of Umrigar's coming of age in an uncertain time.

Though First Darling of the Morning is a memoir, it reads like literary fiction. This is the perfect book for those people who want to read more nonfiction but have trouble with writing styles or pacing. The book itself is relatively short and the words flow like a smoothly moving water; Umrigar's writing is simply beautiful. She writes with such longing, in some ways desperate to once again be the child she left behind, to correct all those mistakes she made. However, there is also wisdom behind her words, the realization that she can never return.

Her words also hold great passion. Umrigar portrays what it was to be a conflicted youth in Bombay at a time of unrest. There is no preaching here about what India was or what it has become; it is simply memories, thoughts and observations from someone who lived at a turbulent time. In some ways, India was coming of age at the same time that Umrigar was. And that's what this is at its core: a coming-of-age story. It has all the pain of what it is to grow up, to be a teenager. Anyone of any culture will recognize Umrigar's self-doubt and inner turbulence. You don't need to be Indian to sympathize with her and understand her plight; it is a story that has been told again and again since the beginning of time in a thousand different ways.

However, it is those Indian elements that make First Darling of the Morning special, in many ways Umrigar's tribute to her heritage, to where she came from. It is her signal that she will never forget and never push it aside in shame. She writes proudly with her head held high.

Between the poignancy of the stories and the gravitas and beauty of Umrigar's writing, First Darling of the Morning is a gem that is absolutely not to be missed. I can't recommend it highly enough; I only wish there was more to read. For now, though, readers must settle for this small but satisfying look at one girl's journey to adulthood.

[...]

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that must be owned and treasured!, February 23, 2009

By 

StrongWomenInspire "Kris" (Midwest USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood (P.S.) (Paperback)

I picked this book up at our local library, intrigued by the author's name and by the location, Mumbai, birthplace of our precious grandchildren. I decided I should read more and sat down to read for thirty minutes. HOURS later, I looked at the clock amazed by how much time had passed while I had been transported to Mumbai in my mind through the gift of the author, Thrity Umrigar. I loved this book completely! It is a treasure to be owned. I may have to buy a second book, just so I have one to loan to my friends. It's THAT terrific.
This author is not only a master of words and language, she is also a deeply perceptive human being who captures the essence of human relationships in ways that inspire and uplift the reader.
If you take the time to buy and read this book,
you won't regret it. Give yourself this gift!
We are so lucky to have access to her work!
Thank you Thrity. My life is enriched by your work.