Afternoon Reading - Unaccustomed Earth - Unaccustomed Earth, part 1

Indira Varma reads the first part of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's story, Unaccustomed Earth, exploring the dark secrets of family life through the Bengali immigrant experience. When Ruma's mother dies, she leaves a space neither she nor her father knows how to fill. Back in India, both know, things would have been very different. A visit from her father brings to the surface feelings of guilt, uncertainty and loss - but ultimately a kind of understanding. Unaccustomed Earth begins in America, but, like all the stories in this series, spills back over memories and generations to India, following new lives forged in the wake of loss. Concludes tomorrow. Reader: Indira Varma Abridger: Richard Hamilton Producer: Justine Willett.