The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Umrigar, Thirty. Honor. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2022.

While Thirty Umrigar’s novel, Honor, is written in past and present tense, the guide predominantly relies on the present tense. Honor follows the story of Smita, told from a third-person limited point of view, as she returns to India to write a newspaper article on Meena, a woman who was assaulted by her brothers for marrying a Muslim man and subsequently filed a lawsuit against them. Smita’s narrative is interjected with Meena’s first-person narrative as she talks about her life with Abdul and her struggle to fight the violent system of female oppression that led to the attack against her. Smita is hesitant to visit India after avoiding the country of her childhood for twenty years. She agrees to stay and help her friend, Shannon, by interviewing Meena and attending the verdict hearing.

Mohan, Shannon’s friend, volunteers to accompany Smita to the rural village Birwad so she does not have to travel alone. He is annoyed by Smita’s constant criticism of India and defends his homeland vehemently. Mohan uses his privilege as an educated man to aid Smita’s journalistic endeavors by pretending to be her husband and invoking his high caste standing. When Smita and Mohan visit Meena for the first time, Meeena describes the animosity in her relationship with her brothers Govind and Arvind. They were incensed when Meena and Radha started working at a local factory and employed the help of a village elder, Rupal, to ostracize their sisters from the community.

Later on in the novel, Meena tells the reader about her romance with Abdul who she met at the factory. She was immediately drawn to him when they first met but afraid to speak to him because of the staunch theocratic ideals of her brothers and village. Despite the potential violence her brothers could inflict if they found out she was spending time with Abdul, Meena started talking with him and exchanging gifts. Later on, she told Govind about her relationship because she believed her love for Abdul could heal her brother's anger and pain. Govind was angry at his sister and sanctioned Rupal’s purity test for Meena in which he forced her to walk over hot coals. After the painful and public humiliation, Meena eloped with Abdul with the help of her sisters, Radha.

Smita and Mohan’s friendship develops as they travel through rural India together. Smita agrees to visit Mohan’s family home in Surat as they await a date for the verdict hearing. At the house, Mohan overhears Smita using a Muslim greeting with her father and asks her to explain. She tells him that she was born a Muslim but her family was subjected to violent persecution when she was a child. Local theocratic thugs publicly molested Smita and her brother for being Muslima and forced her family to convert to Hinduism. Smita’s father, Asif, procured a teaching job in the United States in order to move his family out of Mumbai and escape the religious persecution and communal ostracization they faced in India.

At the verdict hearing, the judge pronounces Govind and Arvind not guilty. The brothers distribute candy and beat drums in the street to celebrate the victory. Smita and Mohan promise Meena that they will visit her later in the day after she is done filling out legal paperwork. When they return to Ammi’s home, a large mob is encircling Meena’s bloody body. The angry men insist that the police will not come but are afraid of Mohan because he is in a higher caste. When the mob leaves, Smita and Mohan rescue Ammi and Abru from their hiding place in the field and drive them back to Surat. Ammi willingly signs over custody of Abru and leaves to live in a different village.

Smita and Mohan’s relationship evolves into a romantic partnership. They discuss the possibility of raising Abru together but Smita is hesitant to stay in India. She is afraid of giving up her professional career as a traveling newspaper correspondent in order to pursue a romantic relationship and motherhood. Smita books a flight back to the United States and tells Mohan that she will visit as much as possible. At the airport Smita realizes that her capitalist ideals of success are at odds with the fulfillment she feels in her relationship with Mohan. She leaves the airport and finds Mohan in the crowd outside, elated to start a new life based on love and comradery.