Tag: Immigrants

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

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About the book

Everything about this novel, set in 1930s New York, is achingly stylish – from the author’s name to the slinky jacket design. Katey Kontent, daughter of Russian immigrants, and Evie Ross, from the sleepy midwest, are an ambitious, wisecracking pair who, despite lack of money and connections, aim to set the city alight. A fortuitous meeting with the apparently wealthy Tinker Grey on New Year’s Eve, 1937, will change the course of both their lives.

 

 Reviewed by Lippy Ladies

This book was well liked by the group. Great Characters and beautifully written. Both descriptive scenes and prose transported the reader to another era. Cant wait for a sequel to tell us what Eve gets up to in L.A”

star rating ****

 

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Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

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About the book

Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, Unaccustomed Earth explores the heart of family life and the immigrant experience. Eight luminous stories – longer and richer than any Jhumpa Lahiri has yet written – take us from America to Europe, India and Thailand as they follow new lives forged in the wake of loss.

Reviewed by Basingstoke Tuesday Afternoon

“An excellent book, beautifully written. A lot of deep themes but handled with lightness and subtlety. We all enjoyed it very much and had thought provoking discussions”

star rating ****

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White teeth by Zadie Smith

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About the book

White Teeth is a comic epic of multicultural Britain by one of the most exciting young writers of 2000. It tells the story of immigrants in England over a period of 40 years.

Reviewed by New Forest/Waterside U3A Theatre and Literature Group

This book was received with the predictable range of reactions our group after some five years together can be relied upon to produce. for a few swearing is still a near no-no, for some immigrant culture is ever alien; both topics provided excellent discussion material. The book was generally enjoyed but it was felt that it would have benefited from some rigid editing. The plot line was not strong enough to sustain interest for what is a long novel despite the excellent handling of dialogue and comic take on unfunny situations. An author worth following.

Star rating: ***

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Sex wars by Marge Piercy

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About the book

Life is hard in post-Civil War New York, but change is in the air. Immigrants are pouring into the city, bringing a new spirit in their wake. Among them is Freydeh, who lives in a tiny tenement flat with eight others and works at as many jobs as she can handle in hopes of raising enough money to bring her family over from Russia.

Reviewed by New Forest/Waterside U3A theatre and literature

Marge Piercy offers us a wide and exotic canvas on which she paints a devastating picture of the “brave New World” of the United States. A long way from “Little Women” or the New England reformers of Henry James’ novels, Sex Wars gets into the tenements and whore-houses of New York and makes us feel the dirt and degradation. It leads to a view of their struggle for women’s suffrage little known or appreciated on this side of the Atlantic. We are reminded too that the extremes of religion and politics have not changed much in the past hundred years. This is a thought-provoking book for anyone prepared to be provoked.

Star rating: ****

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