This is a beautiful story with descriptive and clever writing. The author presents a character who straddle two counties and two identities in a sensitive way.. The book was a joy to read.!

Thrity Umrigar’s The Museum of Failures should keep readers turning pages and staying up late at night to learn what happens next. Remy Wadia, an immigrant from India, and his American wife Kathy have been unable to have a child. As the novel opens, Remy arrives in India to arrange a private adoption. Monaz, the unmarried teenage mother-to-be, is the niece of Remy’s boyhood best friend’s wife, so all should be relatively easy. Yet Monaz is having second thoughts.

Although adoption has brought Remy back home, he will reluctantly visit his estranged mother Shirin whom he hasn’t seen since his beloved, doting father’s illness and death several years earlier. Dreading the meeting with his distant and frequently angry mother, Remy discovers she has been hospitalized and is ill, emaciated, and silent.

Remy finds himself caught up once again in the problem-ridden city of his birth and boyhood, a place he was happy to have escaped years ago. What will happen with Monaz and the Wadias’ dream of an Indian child? Why had financially secure Shirin deteriorated so much and stopped talking, especially after Remy had arranged for her care after his father’s death

Umrigar’s latest novel is a story of immigrants, family, and friends, a story of belonging somewhere and not belonging anywhere, a story of love and unrequited love, but also of jealousy, fear, shame, and guilt. It’s the story of secrets and of what can happen when one makes wrong decisions for all the right reasons, the story of humanity with all its strengths and weaknesses. The Museum of Failures is a book well worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Algonqin Books for an advance reader copy of this recommended new novel by Thrity Umrigar.

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What a thought-provoking and beautifully written book! I loved the questions that Umrigar asks here: How do immigrants feel both at home and never at home in the U.S.A? How are they never really at home in their country of origin? What happens when children grown up and discover secrets that their parents kept, thinking they were protecting them? How do children/adults hold onto fears that they might repeat their parents' mistakes?

Such a wonderful story with an incredible ending!

I really enjoyed this book, especially the second half as it explored the complexity of relationships within family and how we can never truly know what others are going through. It was an emotional ride with a satisfying ending.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Remy has to leave Columbus where he works in advertising. His reason? Adopting a baby from his cousin and a visit to his mother who is in hospital. Remy is mostly focused on his own life. I loved the atmosphere and emtions in A Museum of Failures, and it was interesting that Remy had given this name to Bombay.

I didn’t really like Remy. I was interested and invested in the plot and its twists and turns and the secret. Thrity Umrigar is a new author to me and her writing style was enjoyable. I enjoy different cultures and the mix of Indian and American culture.

Thanks to Thrity Umrigar and Algonquin Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars

Remy Wadia has returned to India to see about possibly adopting a child and while there discovers his mother is sick and in the hospital. Their relationship has been difficult and Remy finds his mother to be very inscrutable. As Remy takes care of his mom, he feels a connection and wants to make sure she gets better and is settled again before he goes back to the US. When he discovers a picture of a child who looks like him, he finds out there was a secret that had been kept from him his entire childhood and it makes him reevaluate the relationship his parents had as well as the relationship he had with each of them. Meanwhile the mother of the child he planned to adopt is undecided about whether she will keep her child. Overall, a compelling story about family secrets and how they changed the relationships between them all. The characters were well written and complex even if their actions were sometimes unclear.

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.

A fast read and a good story. Well written and a great escape for a lazy weekend curled up on the couch.

The Museum of Failures seems to be just that throughout the book. This one will just break your heart! We begin with Remy traveling back to India to adopt a child for him and his wife who is back in America. But, upon Remy getting off the plane, it seems that there is bad news after bad news. He goes to visit/surprise his estranged mom, and finds that she’s sick and practically on her deathbed. As he continues to visit her in the hospital he finds out so many secrets of his childhood good and bad, things about his mom he never knew, and things about his father. Meanwhile, the woman who’s giving her child up for adoption becomes wishy washy which takes us on another emotional roller coaster with that entire situation. I tell you it seems that there is no positivity, no little at the end of the tunnel within Remy’s story.

Although, this one is sad, and may be triggering for some, it is a very good story. Be prepared to have your heart twisted when reading it. And, if you’re a crier, grab tissues because you’re going to need them!

I heard about this book on my favorite book podcast, Sarah's Bookshelves, and I DEVOURED this novel in less than two days. The book starts out following a man's journey to adopt a baby from his home country of India, but his entire life gets turned upside down by a photo falling out of the pages of a book and the uncovering of a dark and very painful family secret. The author writes emotional narratives in such a relatable way - I felt such a strong connection to the characters and their struggles. This was truly a brilliant novel about loss, love and family. I highly recommend it!!

It’s been years since Remy Wadia has been back to Bombay, where he was born and raised. It was his father’s fervent wish that he go to America for university and then settle there, which Remy did. Now, he’s returning to adopt a baby as he and his wife have not been able to conceive. At the same time, he knows he needs to make the obligatory visit to his mother, despite the fact they’ve been estranged since he moved to America. In The Museum of Failures the Wadia family is the site Thrity Umrigar excavates to reveal the shifting layers of identity and the perceptions that shape us, whether real or not.

An only child, Remy was the light of his father’s life and the two moved in their own little orbit. His mother was a complicated, difficult woman to everyone around her, for reasons he never understood. All of which left him a dutiful but distant son. He ensured his mother was taken care of after his father was gone, but he hasn’t seen her in three years. Instead, he’s been happily living his life in Ohio. He’s in Bombay because an old friend knows a pregnant young woman who wants to give her baby up for adoption. Only when he arrives does Remy find out his mother is in the hospital, refusing to talk or eat. In the midst of reacclimatizing to an environment he hasn’t lived in for decades and facing all the complications of the adoption process, he realizes he needs to help his mother and find a way to reconnect.

Once Umrigar sets the stage in the modern day, she shifts the narrative in The Museum of Failures to Shirin, Remy’s mother. Portrayed as a negative, unhappy woman who found fault with everyone and was verbally abusive to both Remy and his father, a look into her past unearths the events and choices that shaped her. Events about which Remy knows nothing and which do not align with his memories of childhood.

Umrigar’s novels are always composed of numerous layers, something that could result in the collapse of her stories from too much weight. Instead, her ability to sift with care and respect through the disparate elements of religion, cultural values, teenage pregnancy, marriage, and memory all while honoring multiple perspectives, further cements Umrigar as an author I trust. The Museum of Failures is great reading that educates while it entertains.

Remy’s visit home to India is expected to be a surprise, but he ends up the one most surprised.

This book truly took family drama to the next level. The story is told from Remy’s viewpoint during his visit to India, with a few of his memories from his childhood in India and college years in the U.S. thrown in. Now married to a woman he met in Ohio in college and ready to start his family, he has pretty set memories of how his life and relationships were with his parents until his father’s passing a few years earlier.

While visiting India in the hopes of starting a family, he finds out more than he ever thought there was to know about his family growing up, and his opinions and feelings about who his parents were and his role in the family could drastically change. When the untangling of Remy’s past came to fruition in the story, it was a surprise.

The story was a beautiful and emotional one about family relationships and parental sacrifices. The book earned 3 out of 5 stars and would be enjoyed by those who enjoy family drama stories, and stories about life in India.

The Museum of Failures by Thrity Umrigar is a beautiful and authentic depiction of a first generation immigrant family drama in the contemporary world where the single child moves abroad. It helped me face some of my fears and consider them alongside a character who is experiencing them.

The Museum of Failures probably walks through every young immigrant’s nightmare. The one where a parent is sick and they have returned to uncertainty about what happens next. They don’t know how long this uncertainty and suffering will last, when they will be able to return to their adopted home… It’s the fear that is slowly becoming resignation that now that this has happened, life will never be the same again. This will likely turn out an opportunity to reflect deep within and find the strength they didn’t know they had. For Remy, there is a reckoning along the way, a secret so well buried that in some ways it was right there in front of his eyes. Once he understands, his childhood gets a new lens and he is never the same again. He forgets his suffering, the very discomfort he has been feeling, and turns instead to care and love his mother.

I could not put down The Museum of Failures. After his father’s death three years ago, Remy left his mother’s care to his cousins. He had built a life in America with his wife, and since his relationship with his mother was never very good to begin with, he did not check in on her often. He returns to India in the hopes of adopting a child. His best friend’s 19 year old niece is accidentally pregnant and willing to give up her baby because of societal taboos. But she is a child and is easily swayed, changing her mind many times. Meantime, Remy has to stay longer when he learns that his mother has been in the hospital for some time now. No one has informed him. His arrival is a complete surprise. Remy takes on the responsibility of the son which he has been neglecting and starts to reconnect with his mother. I related to many of Remy’s experiences and challenges. His internal dialogue about India and immigration are echoes of what I have thought.

Remy is in his late thirties/early forties in his book. He feels like he knows best. His actions can be judged as unthoughtful and uncaring. However, deep within, all he wants is to be loved. Years of abuse and ignorance from his mother have made him wary of her fickle treatment of him. He does not want to be hurt.

The Museum of Failures delicately touches on many themes of growing up. It portrays a parents favouritism and another’s grief, it explores the pressures of always portraying a certain image to society and a mother’s unfathomable love for a child, while being tied down by her kismat. There are conversations about religion and faith, the solace of prayer and the comfort of lifelong friends. At its core, this is a story of the love that parents have for their children. It is also about Indian culture and upbringing and the dichotomy of an existence immigrants live at times. I enjoyed the language integrated into the story. Though I don’t know Bombay’s local ways of speaking, it felt authentic to my idea of the region.

Sometimes, to see and accept our reality, we want to share it with everyone. It can mean revealing very vulnerable parts of ourselves and other people. It’s a bit selfish and self-righteous but it also comes from a place of shock and love. Remy’s actions speak to the ways in which we handle grief, the hardships of reality and our imperfections and strengths.

Throughout, The Museum of Failures was quite emotional and guttural. It progressed at a good pace. To holistically bring the story full circle, the last chapters felt a little extra but still meaningful. While the different plots worked well together, I think they did make for a longer story with lots of emotional situations.

Many thanks to the publisher for a complimentary advanced review copy of this novel for an honest review.

This review was first posted on Armed with A Book.

The Museum of Failures is ale of a broken family told from the point of view of Remy, a successful American businessman who has returned to his homeland of India to adopt a child. Remy has always had a terrible, relationship with his mother but has never understood why. On this trip home he discovers secrets and gets the answers he didn't know he needed or wanted. Much of the backstory is revealed through narration by Remy's mother. She is a character to be pitied, and also to empathize with. This book is beautifully written book - both heart wrenching and heart warming. I highly recommend this book. #NETGALLEY #MUSEUMOFFAILURES

Thrity Umrigar has brought us another compelling family drama about loss, secrets and forgiveness. Remy Wadia runs a successful business and lives in Ohio with his American wife Kathy. However, he and his wife have not been nearly so successful in their attempts to have a child. They’ve nearly given up when Remy is encouraged to return to Bombay to adopt the baby of a pregnancy teenager. Almost immediately upon returning, Remy is shock to discover that his mother is in the hospital and is very ill. She has stopped talking and seems to have given up on life. Years ago, following his father’s death, he left his mother in the care of his cousin Jango and his cousin’s wife Shenaz. Remy has never been very close to his mother Shirin. Despite his many efforts to please her, he has never been able to break through her coldness or understand her inexplicable small cruelties. It appears Shirin was the polar opposite of his warm-hearted and attentive father Cyrus. As an adult Remy has found it simpler to distance himself, literally and figuratively, from his mother. But with his mother ill and the prospect of an adoption pending, Remy finds reasons to stay in Bombay longer than expected. When things get complicated, Remy must reconsider many things he thought he once knew

Many thanks to the author @Thrity_Umrigar, @AlgonquinBooks and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was beautifully written. From the character development, family drama, unraveling of secrets to the descriptions of home, childhood, changing perspectives, and love. It was flawlessly written. The emotions ran high through the entire book and it was easy to imagine yourself in the main characters shoes. I felt it started a little slow, but definitely picked up about 40% of the way through the book. It was impossible to put down during the second half.

Remy grew up in Bombay, however after college in America he got married and settled down. He has not returned to India since hid father died 3 years ago - and is now hoping to adopt. When he gets there he discovers his mother, who he has a tense relationship with, is in the hospital. During his time there is uncovers family secrets that make him question the childhood and decisions his parents made? A story about love, regrets, anger and forgiveness. A must read

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

Remy is a man of two worlds, one is the one in Bombay - where he was born and where he grew up and has his dear friends and his parents; his late father with whom he was very close and his mother with whom he has always had strained and painful relationship. He other world is in Ohio where he has lived with his wife for over a decade; he has a wonderful marriage, has easily acclimated into her family and has a successful advertising career, the only thing missing is a child. The novel begins with Remy returning to Bombay because his friends have told him of relation who is having a baby out of wedlock who needs to find a good home for her baby. What Remy finds when he arrives is his mother, sick in the hospital. Remy has never had a good relationship with her, she has always seems to begrudge him and his achievements, never treating him with the love he sought and emotionally neglectful of him.

During his time with his mother in the hospital and through her recovery he discovers a family secret which explains his difficult relationship with his mother, why she has never seemed proud of him and at many times, to the point of emotionally abusive towards him (and also why his parents seemed so unhappy together throughout his life). Museum of Failures is a story of family, human nature, traditions, love and redemption.

This novel was moving and beautiful as was the writing. While there was a bit of a slow moving part in the middle, the story was enough to keep me engaged. The characters were well written and multi dimensional and I loved the back story that Umrigar gave to the mother. I have had Honor on my kindle for years and now I will definitely go and read it. I loved this story and will be recommended it to everyone.

4.75

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin for the ARC for review

Another amazing read from one of my most favorite authors. I have been a fan of Thirty Umrigar for many years. She is an auto read author for me for so many reasons. Her writing is lyrical. poignant and at the same times irreverent and funny. I love how she delves deeply into family dynamics and blends in the complex cultural and caste dynamics that are so unique to India

This book was so layered. The familial relationships were so complex and misunderstood especially against the backdrop of Remy's own quest to become a parent. I really loved the relationship between Remy and his dad- it made me miss my own lovely father, but made me so thankful to have had him in my life at the same time. This is another one of her books where I felt like the city of Mumbai was a character in the story.

Overall this is is a solid 5 star read for me. I loved every minute of reading it. I was sad when it ended because I will now need to wait for her next novel.

Thanks you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Another beautifully written novel by Thrity Umrigar, The Museum of Failures examines what it means to be a family and how families can look. This novel is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Loss, infertility, adoption, child-parent relationships, love and the cultural divide across countries are all topics in this novel. Difficult subject matter is handled adeptly by Umrigar.

I've been a big fan of Thrity Umrigar's novels since I read The World We Found in 2012. (My review is here.) Her last novel, Honor, was powerful and heartbreaking, and her latest novel, The Museum of Failures, continues her streak of writing stories that touch our humanity.

Remy is an Indian man who has traveled from his current home in Columbus, Ohio back to his hometown of Bombay (now called Mumbai). He has a successful career in advertising and a loving wife Kathy, a pediatric specialist. The one thing missing is a child.

After trying unsuccessfully to have a baby of their own, Remy's childhood friend tells him that he knows a young Indian college student who is pregnant and wants to give up her baby to Remy and Kathy to adopt. So Remy travels back home to meet the young woman.

While home, Remy discovers that his mother Shirin is not home as he thought, but rather she is in the hospital and very ill. Remy has always had a complicated relationship with his mother, he always found her to be harsh and uncaring towards him. He hasn't seen her since his father passed away three years ago.

He adored his late father Cyrus and while home, he keeps meeting people who share stories of his father's kindness and generosity. Remy misses his father deeply, a man who always treated him as if he were a prince.

Remy resolves to bring his mother out of her illness and back home where she belongs. Seeing her so ill and alone saddens him.

As Remy attempts to straighten out his mother's financial and health situation and move forward with adopting an Indian baby, he discovers a huge secret that his parents kept from him, one that will change everything he grew up believing.

Remy has always thought of India as "a museum of failures, an exhibit hall filled with thwarted dreams and broken promises." His return home has brought up complications and feelings he did not anticipate.

Once again, Thrity Umrigar has written a magnificent story, bringing the reader into the lives of Remy and his family. Once back home, Remy is torn between his the life he loves in Ohio and the world he grew up in in Mumbai, his future and his past. I give it my highest recommendation.

Thanks to Algonquin for putting me on Thrity Umrigar's tour.