V.V. Ganeshananthan’s first novel, Love Marriage, was published in April by Random House. She lives in New York.
Edan Lepucki recommended it last year; I’m going to recommend it this year. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao astonishes me more every time I think about it, every time I discuss it with a friend or a student, every time I flip to a favorite passage again. What delightful nerdery to see how many of the references I get! Beyond that, I enjoy the incredible feat of craftsmanship and passion. The novel does a number of remarkable things. At the moment, I’m appreciating how its structure allows it to deal with ideas of community and belonging. The story, juggled between protagonist Oscar and narrator Yunior, simultaneously acknowledges and undermines stereotypes – as Yunior generalizes (sometimes carelessly, but often affectionately) about his own Dominican communities, he also tells the tale of their singular, beloved misfit: Oscar, who has to constantly insist on his own Dominican identity. I love this epic and I’ll read it again next year, I’m sure.
A Perfect Man, by Naeem Murr. When I picked this gorgeous book up, I was stunned by the depth of its world. Murr’s canny, sharp, sympathetic portrayal of children and adolescents kept me riveted.
I’m finishing off the year reading A Golden Age, by Tahmima Anam. I’m not done with it yet, but I suspect it won’t take me long – the take on the Bangladesh War is great, and telling the story from the widow Rehana’s point of view gives the story a different freshness and sympathy.
