The Secrets Between Us cover art

The Secrets Between Us

A Novel

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Secrets Between Us

By: Thrity Umrigar
Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

Bhima, the unforgettable main character of Thrity Umrigar’s beloved national best seller, The Space Between Us, returns in this triumphant sequel - a poignant and compelling novel in which the former servant struggles against the circumstances of class and misfortune to forge a new path for herself and her granddaughter in modern India.

Poor and illiterate, Bhima had faithfully worked for the Dubash family, an upper-middle-class Parsi household, for more than 20 years. Yet after courageously speaking the truth about a heinous crime perpetrated against her own family, the devoted servant was cruelly fired. The sting of that dismissal was made more painful coming from Sera Dubash, the temperamental employer who had long been Bhima’s only confidante. A woman who has endured despair and loss with stoicism, Bhima must now find some other way to support herself and her granddaughter, Maya.

Bhima’s fortunes take an unexpected turn when her path intersects with Parvati, a bitter, taciturn older woman. The two acquaintances soon form a tentative business partnership, selling fruits and vegetables at the local market. As they work together, these two women seemingly bound by fate grow closer, each confessing the truth about their lives and the wounds that haunt them. Discovering her first true friend, Bhima pieces together a new life, and together, the two women learn to stand on their own.

A dazzling story of gender, strength, friendship, and second chances, The Secrets Between Us is a powerful and perceptive novel that brilliantly evokes the complexities of life in modern India and the harsh realities faced by women born without privilege as they struggle to survive.

©2018 Thrity Umrigar (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction

What listeners say about The Secrets Between Us

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Beautiful Story, exceptional narration

There is so much grappling to be done in todays India as people from all walks of life are pulled into the cauldron of change on so many levels. Beautifully narrated and written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great sequel

I loved this as much as her first in this series. Well written & read. Made me feel like I was in Mumbai

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You keep wanting more

Thrity Umrigar has fast become one of my favourite authors. This is the fourth book I’ve consumed within the past few weeks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful

This story was amazing. Well written and well performed. The characters were colourful and full of depth and I learnt so much about Indian culture along the way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A tapestry of the subleties of human connection.

Having spent much time in India over decades ,& having the privilege of many close connections with people & families of different social & religious beliefs & all that such relationships entail, I was easily transported into every moment.

Not just a 'story' for me but a remembered 'feeling experience' of the nuanced complexities of even the seemingly simplest of lives.
The expression of Thritys' effortless weaving of the humans who characterised this tapestry of love in all its forms, from careful , mindful , protective suspicion where cultural edicts bind its elder characters to their strong but restrictive beliefs , across to the quietly respectful bridge on which the younger 3 women have learned to walk in this new India...is something I have observed & been privy to in my own time so graciously shared within the day to day lives of Indian families who welcomed me into their lives.
Very poignant unfolding of Kismet, fate & destiny.
Serendipitous meetings of seemingly unlikely individuals who come to deeply feel & understand that they , may all have more in common & much to contribute to one anothers humanity & wellbeing than their own cultural prejudices at first, allow.

This is for me a reminder of how short & precious our lives are & how too often & too easily , we can shut out our love & compassion over a real or imagined 'slight' only to carry this burden through to the ends of out lives & living uncomfortably with this regret.
The message here for me , is that love & affection portrays itself in many varied ways & that I am reminded to give generously of my own caring feelings as consciously as I can & receive with awareness & appreciation whatever comes back to me in return.
Thank you Thrity for your depth of empathy & to our reader Sneeha for her expression of the words that are the tapestry of this story of lives we can feel as if they were our own lived experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

A great story and well narrated. I would like to read other books by this author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t finish this book

Would have been a more believable and gutsy story except for some thinly developed characters that added nothing more than an attempt by the author to address current popular social issues. The story became tedious for me. Sorry.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.