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sakisreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
✨ Thrifted ✨
I bought this for a friend, hoping this would be a great introduction into Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing, but ended up reading it for myself also and immensely enjoying lots of it ❤️
Some stories I enjoyed were:
Unaccustomed Earth (that disconnect from ‘home’ and interracial marriages was such a fascinating read) 😳
Hell-Heaven (this discomfort between loving someone and knowing you’ll never be with them made this story heated and hard-hitting) 🫠
The one that hit me most though, was definitely Part Two: Kaushi and Hema. Kaushi is a man whose loss drives him to never find a ‘home’ (instead travelling far and wide to work on photography) and Hema is a woman who never really settles for her ‘home’ either (instead doing studying art and literature). Their connection is forced, as Kaushi’s dad and mum essentially crash Hema’s dad and mum’s home for a month as they try and find somewhere to live in the US 😳 As we find out later on, this is because Kaushi’s mum is dying of cancer and they wanted to find her last home and treatment 🥺
Their reunion years later sparked so many emotions and I LOVE the way in which they are very flawed humans throughout the story, Kaushi always still being guarded and Hema trying desperately to fit in. I definitely wasn’t expecting the end however, and that made me very teary 😫 As someone who personally knows about the effects those tsunamis parts of South East Asia had in 2004, I absolutely was not expecting them in this tale! Hema losing Kaushi was devastating to say the least.
I’m definitely recommending this series of short stories ✨
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, Mental illness, and Alcoholism
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