Of late, a suprising number of novels coming out of the Indian diaspora have focused on small apartment buildings within Bombay: SWIMMING LESSONS, BEACH BOY, SUCH A LONG JOURNEY, and THE DEATH OF VISHNU are a few outstanding examples. Each has in common a deeply felt affection for the people and families who live in the building, many of whom have lived in close proximity for generations, and rich understanding of the complexities of the lives of these people. BOMBAY TIME can proudly take its place with these fine novels. Thrity Umrigar has a lively, sympathetic but unsentimental view of her richly diverse characters. Her writing is lush and sensuous, conveying in few words the smells and sounds and colors and heat of a decaying but vital community. Her ability to convey the heart of her characters is striking, making reading her work a pleasure.

Though each of these novels focus on a small Bombay community, each is its own gift. In the case of BOMBAY TIME, it is each individual character who provides a gift to the reader, the gift of understanding how another sees the world, and another way to make sense of the world. I finished BOMBAY TIME sadly, knowing I would miss each character, from the odiferous Tehmi to the rageful Coomi. Each character was memorable and gave me yet another little piece of India, another little piece of humanity. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

THRITY UMRIGAR'S DEBUT NOVEL, BOMBAY TIME, IS EXTRAORDINARY. A NATURAL BORN WRITER IT SEEMS, MS. UMRIGAR TAKES THE READER ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE LIVES OF THE RESIDENTS OF WADIA BAUG. HER ABILITY TO MAKE HER CHARACTERS SPEAK TO THE READER IN SUCH A MOVING WAY IS TRULY RARE. SOMEHOW I'M SURE THAT THE RESIDENTS OF WADIA BAUG REALLY RESIDE INSIDE HER HEART AND HEAD INSTEAD. THE STORY IS RICHLY SPUN AND MS. UMRIGAR'S BOMBAY, EVEN WITH ALL ITS ILLS, GLITTERS STILL. I'M ONLY SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET TO THIS BOOK; IT DESERVES TOP OF THE STACK. I AM GREATLY ANTICIPATING WHAT I'VE JUST LEARNED WILL BE MS. UMRIGAR'S NEXT BOOK: A MEMOIR OF GROWING UP IN INDIA, HARPER COLLINS,INDIA, 2003. THANK YOU MS. UMRIGAR.

I was transported to Bombay without leaving my chair reading this book.The characters jump off the page into your imagination and you become immersed in their lives and you care about them. You hurt when they hurt,you are happy when they are happy. The book revolves about the invited guest to a Parsi wedding party given by a prominent Bombay attorney, Jimmy Kanga, father of the groom. I liken "Bombay Time" to an Indian "Canterbury Tales" but instead of going on a journey the travellers in this book have already arrived at their destination and are telling their stories up to the present.The book has an architecture to it in that each chapter of the book is like a free standing structure that is tied back in a neat package to the event all the characters have in common, the wedding party. I have read Paul Scott's "Staying On", Bapsi Sidhwa's "The Crow Eaters," and Kamala Markandaya's "Nectar in a Sieve" and I consider "Bombay Time" to be in the same class as those great books. If you like myself love India culture and just the names Chopatty Beach, Breach Candy, Apollo Bunder, Marine Drive and others conjure up visions of the sun rising or setting over the Indian Ocean or a steaming Bombay sweltering in the monsoon heat, you will love this latest addition to Indian literature. You can almost smell the pungent aromas of delicious dishes being prepared by the Parsi aunties, mothers, grandmothers, and wifes as your mind enters Wadia Baug. Parsi is an ancient religion that originated in Persia now present day Iran and Iraq. Many of the Parsi followers who were forced out of their homeland fled into India and formed pocket settlements in the midst of surrounding Hindu, Muslin, and Sikh populations. In "Bombay Time" you will learn more about Parsi culture and how it seems to be losing ground as the younger generation move away to England and America and sometimes never return. They usually leave to go to the universities in those countries and intend to return but as often happens they meet someone they fall in love with, marry and never go back. The Parsi do not have prearranged marriages made by their parents like the Hindu have and they are free to marry whoever the wish. They of course have to deal with the fact that all Parsi mothers want their sons to marry nice Parsi girls and likewise with the fathers marrying off their daughters to nice Parsi boys. Soli Contractor, a Parsi, falls in love with a nice Jewish girl, Marian, but you will have to read the book to find out how this relationship developed. I don't think that anyone will be disappointed with the time they invest reading this book. I know, I certainly wasn't.