DIGGING TO AMERICA

Author: Anne Tyler ISBN: 034549234X 9/2007 FICTION Publisher: BALLANTINE

Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport—the Donaldsons, a very American couple, and the Yazdans, Maryam’s fully assimilated son and his attractive Iranian wife. Each couple is awaiting the arrival of an adopted infant daughter from Korea. After the instant babies from distant Asia are delivered, Bitsy Donaldson impulsively invites the Yazdans to celebrate: an “arrival party” that from then on is repeated every year as the two families become more and more deeply intertwined. Even Maryam is drawn in—up to a point. When she finds herself being courted by Bitsy Donaldson’s recently widowed father, all the values she cherishes—her traditions, her privacy, her otherness—are suddenly threatened.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

DIGGING TO AMERICA is not is not a romance per se. Nonetheless, it is a stellar novel that is sure to inspire and delight.

Anne Tyler does not disappoint readers with this look at the dynamics of what it really means to be an American in today's society. When two families, as different as families can be, adopt infant girls from Korea, they begin a process of not only extending their immediate families but, through their friendship, their extended network as well. They each have reasons for wanting their girls, and definite ideas about assimilation, cultural heritage and parenting. Beginning with their first chance meeting at the airport when the girls arrive in their new country, and extending into the following years, the families become enmeshed. When tempers flare, differences are brought to the surface and the strengths of friendship and love are tested as the girls grow and become the American girls their families dreamed they would become.

Anne Tyler has the ability to bring her characters completely to life. I could hear Maryam's voice, feel Connie's pain and see the emotional struggles these families wrestled with. This is a book that pulls the reader in right from the get-go. Who wouldn't wonder how two Korean infants would be integrated into their new lives, their new country? Watching each member of both families settle into the experience was like peeking past closed doors and right into these homes.

While DIGGING TO AMERICA is not a typical romance, it is a book filled with heart. It explores the similarities and differences between American families-and the love that holds them all together. I highly recommend this book.

Kay James