Protected: A Friendship Spanning Bombay Prep Schools and Connecticut Strip Malls

In my mind, the best fiction is relentless in its interrogation of its characters. This is a difficult task, for the interrogation must be done with kindness, even when a character seems rotten. Conversely, when a character seems wonderful and faultless beyond belief, it is the writer’s job to discover their faults, secrets, and contradictions. A murderer may love the poetry of Rilke. An impatient teacher may donate generously to UNICEF. A skilled surgeon may have a gambling addiction. A grouchy flight attendant might make delicious pancakes for his elderly neighbors on his days off. These observations are important for a writer of fiction to make, and note. Otherwise, characters turn into archetypes. 

There are no archetypes in Reena Shah’s Every Happiness, an epic debut novel about the intricacies of a female friendship that only gets more complex as the years go by. In this quietly heartbreaking excerpt, Shah explores how a generous gesture on Deepa’s part may actually be a selfish act, one intended to pull Ruchi back into her life—because Deepa needs Ruchi in her life. The novel covers a lot of ground, taking us from the time the two women were young girls in Catholic school in Bombay to when they are well into middle age, settled in Connecticut, with grown children of their own. 

On the surface, Deepa is the luckier of the two women. She comes from a wealthier family, she marries the richer, more successful man, and she has the nicer, more comfortable life in America. She toys with Ruchi’s emotions, engaging with her when she wants to, but often turning cold when others are around. But Ruchi does not choose to walk away from Deepa—because she, too, needs Deepa in her life. The attraction is mutual, even when tradition, class, and culture make a true friendship impossible, and a more intimate relationship even more so. 

Writers carry plenty of bias, of course, but personal baggage must be dropped in order for a loving interrogation of character to work. The best and worst of humankind exists in each one of us, if only we look deep enough. In Every Happiness, Shah has dropped her baggage and she’s looking deeply at Deepa and Ruchi.

– Sindya Bhanoo
Author of Seeking Fortune Elsewhere