The Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

While Lahiri’s first short story collection (The Interpreter of Maladies) focused on Bengali immigrants in America, her novel The Namesake (adapted into a movie by Mira Nair in 2006) looked toward the second generation: the young people forced to navigate between two worlds as they try to steer themselves toward their future. Her newest book of short stories, The Unaccustomed Earth continues that exploration with greater success.

Lahiri writes about immigrants, but she is a thoroughly American writer; she excels at drawing quiet, naturalistic portraits of individuals who are floating aimlessly through the space of their lives. In each story she peels back their calm and guarded exteriors to show us the violent passions that lurk in their (and our) hearts, without judgment or cynicism. Lahiri’s style is in top form here, as she reveals the countless forces that act on her characters, pushing them in opposing directions until they are paralyzed.

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Recommended by Sara D.