The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

While I was more impressed with Lahiri's collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, I would highly recommend this novel. The story of the Ganguli family spans over 33 years detailing Ashoke and Ashima's arranged marriage in Calcutta and their journey to America, starting their life together in Boston and raising their son, Gogol (who later changes his name). It is interesting to follow Gogol's thought process as he makes a life for himself as an Indian-American, his education, and a series of romances that really press upon the reader's heart. The plot ebbs and flows. What I really enjoy is Lahiri's characterization, namely her ability to bring the reader into the intimate thoughts of her hero in a way that is poignant and disarming. Favorite Quote: "For being a foreigner, Ashima is beginning to realize, is a sort of lifelong pregnancy - a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts. It is an ongoing responsibility, a parenthesis in what had once been an ordinary life, only to discover that that previous life has vanished, replaced by something more complicated and demanding. Like pregnancy, being a foreigner, Ashima belives, is something that elicits the same curiosity from strangers, the same combination of pity and respect."