Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Darling of the Morning | 2004 | Thrity Umrigar | Buy |
First Darling of the Morning is Thrity Umrigar’s only non-fiction book, a memoir published in 2004. The title comes from a term of endearment, and the book recounts Umrigar’s childhood and early adulthood in Mumbai, India. She writes about her Parsi family, her relationship with her parents, the class dynamics she observed growing up, and the personal experiences that shaped her decision to leave India for America.
The memoir covers difficult ground, including Umrigar’s experience of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence in her family. She writes about these subjects with directness rather than sentimentality, placing her personal story within the broader context of life in Mumbai. The book also describes the Parsi community in India, a small but culturally distinct group descended from Persian Zoroastrians who came to India centuries ago.
First Darling of the Morning provides useful background for readers of Umrigar’s fiction. Many of the themes she explores in her novels, particularly questions about class, gender roles, and the experience of being caught between Indian and Western cultures, have roots in the experiences she describes here. The memoir was published between her first and second novels and remains the only time she has written at length about her own life.