by Kirtimaya Varma

TOGETHER IN TIME is a contemporary story of Sanjay’s guilt-ridden reaction to the death of his mother, left alone in her last years to fend for herself while her three adult children are lost in their own worlds. He remembers his mother as a single parent, living with her three children in the Indian city of Pune, fighting adversity with the power of a woman in a mother’s role. 

But Sanjay discovers that in her late years, his mother and her friends were living miserably and alone, while their adult children settle in the U.S. and pursue their dreams without thought to their aging parents. He questions his value as a son, and is faced with an internal struggle with his dreams of living in the modern world, and his obligations to his parent under traditional Indian society.

Will Sanjay be able to salve his conscience? Or will his vicarious experiences and greater knowledge of the life his mother faced add to his anguish?

High Praise for Kirtimaya Varma’s novel Together in Time

“Mesmerizing in the intensity of its passion for family, for the dying traditions of India, and most of all for motherhood, Together in Time is a beautiful, truly wonderful book. If ever a novel deserves to be read by millions, Kirtimaya Varma's Together in Time is surely it. It is stunning in its passion for family, in its compassion for the elderly, and in its poetic exploration of sacrifice, guilt, and redemption. I could not put this book down."

Mary Balogh, author, Simply Magic

“Together in Time touched my heart like few other books.”

Allan Cole, author, The Timura Trilogy    

“A truthfully shocking story, passionate and incisive, that should open the eyes of society to the plight of the large number of lonely old.”               

Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian writer

“An elegantly narrated novel of great depth, profundity, and humanity.”

Hugh Rosen, D.S.W., Professor Emeritus

“Kirtimaya Varma has written a beautiful book in Together in Time. Beautiful in its language, its simplicity, and its genuineness. No one who reads this book can remain unchanged in attitude toward the aged.”

Alma Bond, Ph.D., author, Camille Claudel: A Novel

“This is the best literature on the social side of the elderly I have ever seen.”

Dr. O. P. Sharma, General Secretary, Geriatric Society of India

“Kirtimaya Varma’s Together in Time is a thought provoking and compelling story of a man’s struggle to cope with his mother’s death. He ultimately discovers that he had failed her in life. Eloquently written, the book handles the subject of today’s aging populace with grace and insight. Well worth reading.”

Jeremy Robinson, author, Raising the Past     

“Kirtimaya Varma takes us on a journey that explores the relationships between adult children and their aging parents in modern India. His style is captivating and lyrical, his insights compassionate and wise. He does more than present a good story; he opens his heart and touches ours.

Lawana Blackwell, author, A Table by the Window

“Which of us can state with complete honesty that we’ve been ‘the good child’ that our loving parents deserve? The question echoes throughout Kirtimaya Varma’s Together in Time…. A universally exceptional read!”

Loree Lough, author, Only You

“We have seen celebrities of yesteryears suffering and groaning in solitude in the evening of their lives. Then who would care or bother for the common old men and women in my country? Kirtimaya Varma’s Together in Time is thus a much needed ray of hope in true service of humanity.”

Majeed Memon, Indian political leader, lawyer, and Urdu poet

“Through a poetic and heartfelt portrayal of one son’s struggle to confront his failure to follow traditional Indian culture and care for his mother in her old age, Kirtimaya Varma lays bare the universal problem of rapidly aging societies.”

Mary M. Ball, Research Associate Professor, Gerontology Institute, Georgia State University, Georgia

“Kirtimaya Varma deals with complex issues of the mother-son relationship and the plight of the old….The Indian setting offers interesting, colorful scenes, and the story is universal.”

Nahid Rachlin, author, Jumping Over Fire