Luther College first-year students are all reading the same book, "The Space Between Us"

All the members of this year's Luther College first-year class are reading the book "The Space Between Us" as part of this year's Paideia program.  The book describes life in India, centered on a maid and the women who employs her.

Wednesday night author Thrity Umrigar told an audience of students "This story poured out of me."  That's because Umrigar lived in India until she was 21 and her middle class family employed a maid.

The book discusses the complicated relationships between servants and their employers.  Umrigar admits it's a world that is alien to most readers.  But she says several of the characters in her book are victims of that class system--and she's sympathetic to their problems.

Umrigar answered questions from students Wednesday night and joked during the Q & A session that having an audience where everybody has read her book "is a rare luxury for me."