The immigrant experience in fiction |
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| Leaving one’s homeland and adapting to a new culture, learning to survive and hopefully thrive, presents enormous challenges to the characters in these novels. | |
 | Title: Brick lane Author: Ali, Monica Summary: Nazneen accepts her father’s marriage match and leaves Bangladesh for a Bangladeshi community in London. There, she feels trapped by the restrictions of her Muslim society in a land teeming with opportunity. |
 | Title: Sari of the gods Author: Sharat Chandra, G.S. Summary: These nineteen stories focus on three aspects of the immigrant experience; Indian citizens feeling oppressed at home, adrift in America with culture shock, or unable to be at home in their native land after having experienced life in the States. |
 | Title: All That Matters Author: Choy, Wayson Summary: We see the emigration and evolution of the Chen family from China from the late 1920 to the late 1940s in Vancouver, Canada through the eyes of the first born son. His grandmother provides vivid reminders of the old China. |
 | Title: The Master Butchers Singing Club Author: Erdrich, Louise Summary: The indomitable Fidelis Waldvogel, a German World War I sniper and master butcher with a talent for singing, settles in Argus, North Dakota with his wife Eva. Extraordinary secrets are hidden within these seemingly ordinary townspeople. |
 | Title: Nowhere Man: The Pronek Fantasies Author: Hemon, Aleksandar Summary: Jozef Pronek from Sarajevo journeys to the Soviet Union, Shanghai, and Chicago. As a young man enthralled with the Beatles he deals with displacement and alienation in a story laced with humor. |
 | Title: The mambo kings play songs of love Author: Hijuelos, Oscar Summary: The Mambo Kings are two brothers, Cesar and Nestor Castillo, Cuban-born musicians who emigrate to New York City in 1949 and form a band. The raucous Cuban night life is contrasted with square 1950s America. |
 | Title: Typical American Author: Gish, Jen Summary: Three exchange students decide to stay in the United States after Communists take control of China in 1948 and face a rocky road in pursuing the American dream while holding on to their own language and traditions. |
 | Title: The Namesake Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa Summary: An immigrant Bengali couple name their son Gogol to honor the Russian writer. Gogol does his best to shed his Indian heritage and his name but learns to appreciate his parents’ love and concern. |
 | Title: The Rug Merchant Author: Mullins, Meg Summary: An Iranian rug merchant in New York is devastated when his wife decides not to join him. As he struggles with his loss, he learns to resolve his feelings about women and American culture. |
 | Title: The Jungle Author: Sinclair, Upton Summary: One of the classics of immigrant fiction shows the horrifying working conditions in the Chicago meat-packing industry around 1904 through the story of Lithuanian Jurgis Rudkus. |