RollnSmoke Reviews: UNACCUSTOMED EARTH by Jhumpa Lahiri

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Vintage Contemporaries, 2009)

Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri offers a magnificent collection of eight stories that was voted Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The LA Times (among numerous other publications). Most of the stories take place in and around (often academic) Boston, Massachusetts, but maintain cherished family connections and traditions from (Bengali) India. The stories explore poignant moments among intimates – family members, long-time friends, lovers -- that present essential life questions: What does it mean to be loyal? To be family? To be home? To be alive? Lahiri deftly probes the mysteries and complexities that fuel meaningful human relationships, eliciting surprising empathy and interest from the reader (9.5/10).