The Museum Of Failures by Thrity Umrigar

 

Remy has not been back to India since his father died three years ago.  He was always close to his father but his mother had been a silent, criticizing figure and it was easy to push back coming to check on her.  He has come to India to see about adopting a baby although his wife was not able to accompany him on this trip.  A friend's daughter has gotten pregnant and he is here to meet her and see about adopting her baby when it is born.

Remy arrives to find his mother in the hospital, perhaps at death's door.  The doctors aren't optimistic and she isn't speaking or eating.  As Remy cares for her, he feels shame for not taking better care of her over the years, not making sure that the safeguards he'd put in place were working.  Over her hospital stay, Remy and his mother become closer and he rediscovers the love he had for her.  

But there are dark secrets hiding in his family's background.  As Remy discovers them, he realizes that his memories of his childhood were all false, all manufactured.  What will he do with the new information he has learned?  Will he and his mother be another victim of Bombay, The Museum Of Failures?

This is a haunting book that will transport and touch the deepest emotions in the reader.  Thrity Umrigar was born in India to a Parsi family but also grew up around the Catholic and Hindu religions.  She immigrated to the United States when she was twenty-one and has written several best selling novels and has won numerous writing awards.  This book deserves to be one of her best known novels as it explores the meaning of family relationships and the place that friends play in our lives.  She delves into the darkest spaces and relates ways to solve thorny issues that are separating us from those we love.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.