Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hell-heaven | 20080616 | 20100330 (R4) | Nina Wadia reads Hell-Heaven from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's collection exploring the dark secrets of family life, all linked by the Bengali immigrant experience. An India mother's lonely life in America is eased when she mees a charismatic young immigrant, who transports her back to a time before marriage. But before long, her secret infatuation comes close to devastating her family. Hell-Heaven begins in America, but, like all the stories in this remarkable series, spills back over generations and past memories to India, following new lives forged in the wake of loss. Reader: Nina Wadia Abridger: Richard Hamilton Producer: Justine Willett. A lonely Indian mother, living in America, meets a charismatic young immigrant. |
| 02 | Unaccustomed Earth - Part 1 | 20080617 | 20100331 (R4) | 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. When Ruma's mother dies, neither she nor her father knows how to fill the void. |
| 03 | Unaccustomed Earth - Part 2 | 20080618 | 20100401 (R4) | Indira Varma reads the second part of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's title story from her collection Unaccustomed Earth, exporing the dark secrets of family life through the Bengali immigrant experience. When Ruma's mother dies, she leaves a space neither her daughter or her husband knows how to fill. Back in India, both know, things would have been very different. But when Ruma's father visits her in America, Ruma finally decides to invite him to live with her and her family. But his response is not what she had expected. Unaccustomed Earth begins in America, but, like all the stories in this week's series, spills back over memories and generations to India, following new lives forged in the wake of loss. Reader: Indira Varma Abridger: Richard Hamilton Producer: Justine Willett. When Ruma's mother dies, neither she nor her father knows how to fill the void. |
| 04 | Once In A Lifetime | 20080619 | Stories from a brilliant new collection by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri exploring the dark secrets of family life, all linked by the Bengali immigrant experience. One memorable winter, two Indian immigrant families are reunited under one roof in a small house in suburban Massachusetts. As the snow falls they look back to the time they were last together, a winter's evening seven years earlier when things were very different. Read by Nina Wadia. Two Indian families, reunited in Massachusetts, recall when they were last together. | |
| 05 | Year's End | 20080620 | 20100402 (R4) | Hari Dhillon reads Year's End, the last in the series of stories by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, exploring the dark secrets of family life through the Bengali immigrant experience. During a holiday visit to his family home three years after his mother's death, a young man struggles to accept his father's new, and very young, Indian wife. Year's End 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. Reader: Hari Dhillon Abridger: Richard Hamilton Producer: Justine Willett. A young man struggles to accept his widowed father's new young Indian wife. |