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A review by sde
On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu
5.0
The author's writing is lovely. It is relatively sparse but very much evokes sounds, smells, and feelings.
The book was part of my library's adult summer reading challenge, and I am so happy it was because I might have never discovered it otherwise. It was on a list for the week called "Other Worlds," which was supposed to be sci-fi and fantasy books. This book was neither, although I see that the author has won awards in those genres. It is a realistic fiction story with a little bit of communication with ghosts, the dead, and spirits, told in a way that many people experience in real life.
The author is American, and the story is about a family of refugees from Afghanistan who eventually make their way to Australia, so obviously she isn't intimately familiar with any of these settings, and I have no idea if she has gotten a lot wrong or right, but it doesn't really matter to me. Many of the feelings evoked would be similar to those of people in related situations.
The book was part of my library's adult summer reading challenge, and I am so happy it was because I might have never discovered it otherwise. It was on a list for the week called "Other Worlds," which was supposed to be sci-fi and fantasy books. This book was neither, although I see that the author has won awards in those genres. It is a realistic fiction story with a little bit of communication with ghosts, the dead, and spirits, told in a way that many people experience in real life.
The author is American, and the story is about a family of refugees from Afghanistan who eventually make their way to Australia, so obviously she isn't intimately familiar with any of these settings, and I have no idea if she has gotten a lot wrong or right, but it doesn't really matter to me. Many of the feelings evoked would be similar to those of people in related situations.