
by JhumpaLahiri (Author)
Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, Unaccustomed Earth follows new lives forged in the wake of loss. These are stories in which deeply sympathetic characters reach pivotal moments in their frayed relationships and are forced to navigate their way in unfamiliar landscapes. In the title story the death of a mother leaves a space neither daughter nor husband knows how to fill. In 'Only Goodness' a younger brother's spiralling alcoholism threatens to destroy his loyal sister's family. And in a trio of linked stories we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one memorable winter, share a house in suburban Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until they are brought together years later in a chance meeting in Rome. With moving compassion Lahiri traces a series of transformations: weariness into hope, secrets into sacrifices, and grief into unforeseen love. Eight luminous stories - longer and richer than any she has yet written - explore the heart of family life and the immigrant experience, taking us from America to Europe, India and Thailand. Infused with eloquent warmth and lyrical simplicity, Unaccustomed Earth confirms Jhumpa Lahiri's status as a storyteller of unrivalled empathy.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Edition: Export and UK open market ed
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 01 Apr 2009
ISBN 10: 0747599793
ISBN 13: 9780747599791
Book Overview: Interpreter of Maladies sold 50,000 copies in the UK and over 1,000,000 in the US. The Namesake sold 30,000 copies in the UK and in the US sold over 1,000,000 and spent 48 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list Unaccustomed Earth debuted at Number One in the New York Times bestseller list, and Knopf have sold in hardback 260,000 copies Winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. The judges were so impressed that they dispensed with a short-list altogether