Every month a group of willing and hungry readers gather at the International Library to discuss a new book, have a nice chat and practice their English. New members are welcome!
This month's book of choice is:
"Here I am" (2017) by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fates reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to a cotton-picking plantation in Mississippi; from a village missionary school to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - an intense, heartbreaking story of one family and through their lives the very story of America itself.
Epic in its canvas and intimate in its portraits, Homegoing is a novel about how history shapes us all. It is a searing and profound debut from a masterly new writer.
Jacob and Julia Bloch are about to be tested . . .
By Jacob's grandfather, who won't go quietly into a retirement home.
By the family reunion, that everyone is dreading.
By their son's heroic attempts to get expelled.
And by the sexting affair that will rock their marriage.
A typical modern American family, the Blochs cling together even as they are torn apart. Which is when catastrophe decides to strike . . .
Confronting the enduring question of what it means to be human with inventiveness, playfulness and compassion, Here I Am is a great American family novel for our times, an unmissable read for fans of Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon, a masterpiece about how we live now.