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sedeara 's review for:
The Newlyweds
by Nell Freudenberger
I find it more difficult to review books that I really liked, so I've been putting this review off a bit. Initially, the book's mere title caught my attention, since I'm drawn to materials about early marriage. But when I read the synopsis, I was even more intrigued -- because it was about a couple that met online and conducted the majority of their courtship that way. Even before I met my own husband online, I was fascinated by online relationships and "arranged marriages," and this book has elements of both.
It didn't take long for the book to begin exploring these elements, and the exploration was appropriately nuanced and complex. An added layer was the cultural dissonance as George's new bride immigrated from Bangladesh to the U.S. As might be expected, both entered into the marriage for slightly different reasons -- Amina because she hoped for a better life, and to eventually bring her parents to the U.S., and George because he wanted to have a family. George comes across as socially awkward enough that it's believable that he might have had trouble meeting women and dating "in real life," and although he has a few skeletons in his closet, none of them are extreme enough to paint him as freakish. He comes across as condescending at times, but it's fairly easy to believe that he basically has a good heart. Amina, while a people pleaser especially as she struggles to assimilate into her new culture, is not a pushover, either. Essentially, what makes this book a worthwhile read is that the characters are richly drawn, believable, and three-dimensional, which is literary fiction at its best.
After Amina's initial adjustment to marriage and life in the U.S., the book loses a little bit of its steam, and the second half starts to feel a little convoluted. At the same time, I understand its purpose, especially the importance of Amina's return to Bangladesh and her coming to terms with what she may have given up and what the reality of her life in the U.S. is vs. her fantasies of it. I really had trouble respecting a few of the choices she made near book's end; and while that might have been enough to bump the book down one star-rating, I decided to remain generous. Because literary fiction relies perhaps more than any genre on the intricacies of human interactions, having those people mess up once in a while may be crucial to propelling the story forward. And the fact that it ended on a note that was neither saccharine nor bleak, with a few knots left to untangle but a general sense that things would work out, I was left mostly satisfied, and sorry to see this book end.
It didn't take long for the book to begin exploring these elements, and the exploration was appropriately nuanced and complex. An added layer was the cultural dissonance as George's new bride immigrated from Bangladesh to the U.S. As might be expected, both entered into the marriage for slightly different reasons -- Amina because she hoped for a better life, and to eventually bring her parents to the U.S., and George because he wanted to have a family. George comes across as socially awkward enough that it's believable that he might have had trouble meeting women and dating "in real life," and although he has a few skeletons in his closet, none of them are extreme enough to paint him as freakish. He comes across as condescending at times, but it's fairly easy to believe that he basically has a good heart. Amina, while a people pleaser especially as she struggles to assimilate into her new culture, is not a pushover, either. Essentially, what makes this book a worthwhile read is that the characters are richly drawn, believable, and three-dimensional, which is literary fiction at its best.
After Amina's initial adjustment to marriage and life in the U.S., the book loses a little bit of its steam, and the second half starts to feel a little convoluted. At the same time, I understand its purpose, especially the importance of Amina's return to Bangladesh and her coming to terms with what she may have given up and what the reality of her life in the U.S. is vs. her fantasies of it. I really had trouble respecting a few of the choices she made near book's end; and while that might have been enough to bump the book down one star-rating, I decided to remain generous. Because literary fiction relies perhaps more than any genre on the intricacies of human interactions, having those people mess up once in a while may be crucial to propelling the story forward. And the fact that it ended on a note that was neither saccharine nor bleak, with a few knots left to untangle but a general sense that things would work out, I was left mostly satisfied, and sorry to see this book end.