Digging to America - Anne Tyler
Breathing Lessons, Back When We Were Grownups Author's New Novel
In Digging to America, Maryam Yazdan, an Iranian American who, after living in America for 35 years, comes to terms with her feelings of being an outsider.
Maryam's son Sami and daughter in law Ziba have adopted a daughter from Korea. On the day of the girl's arrival, the family gathers at the airport. The family learns that another infant girl is being adopted from Korea on the same day, by Bitsy and Brad Donaldson. Bitsy impulsively invites the Yazdan family to her house to join their "arrival day" celebration, and a bond is immediately formed.
Maryam is there as Ziba and Bitsy get to know each other and their daughters. The contrast between the families is striking. Bitsy and Brad are the quintessential American couple -- white, middle class, and as American as anyone could be. Ziba and Sami are Iranian American, and follow traditions both American and Iranian. They Yazdans choose to raise their daughter Susan in an American fashion. The Donaldsons try to preserve their daughter's Korean heritage by dressing her in traditional clothes and naming her Jin-Ho. She eventually revolts, and demands to be called "Jo" instead.
Though the perspectives shift through the novel, Maryam is at the plot's center. The story truly begins when she is pulled further into the Donaldsons' lives when one of them shows an interest in her. Kind hearted Dave, Bitsy's recently widowed father, finds himself increasingly lonely as he putters around alone in his big house, and finds excuses to try to connect to Maryam in different ways. Eventually they begin a relationship together, and Maryam is forced to confront her identity as an outsider, and whether it is self imposed. She also must consider if there is room in her neat and orderly life for a new love and for her new country she after all.
The novel is paced well and reads quickly, and has a familiar tone to it. Reviewers have said that a new Anne Tyler novel "is like the arrival of an old friend," which is certainly true in this case. Tyler examines the threads that hold families together in a real and honest way, and readers can see themselves in the characters of her novels.
About the Author
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis in 1941 but grew up in Raleigh, NC. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. This is Anne Tyler’s 17th novel.
Click here to read an excerpt, for a reader's guide, and more.
Tyler, Anne
Digging to America
New York, Random House, May 2006
Digging to America
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