Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories by the author of Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake: A Novel. It's nice to start the year by reading a book I couldn't put down.

The phrase "unaccustomed earth" is from Hawthorne, referring to being somewhere unfamiliar. The stories are about people who are reconciling their Indian backgrounds and their modern lives. For example, the first story is about a woman whose moves to the West Coast with her husband and young son. Her father comes to visit for the first time since the death of her mother. A later story is about a young girl whose family becomes friendly with another Bengali transplant to Cambridge (MA), then deals with the cultural shock of his marrying an American girl.

The final three stories were a set of related stories about childhood friends who reunite in adulthood. The first is when they are children, the second is when they are college-ages, and the final story when they are adults. The stories were all compelling, many with unexpected twists.

Can't wait for Lahiri's next book. One for one in 2012 so far!