I'm desperately trying to cut down on book buying as the house is full of books that I haven't read yet, but when I was Christmas shopping and what someone wanted formed part of a special offer in Waterstones I couldn't help but pick up something for me too.
The Newlyweds
Amina and George met via an online dating site and before long Amina was giving up her life in Bangladesh to move to America and make George her husband. We've all heard of people that have met their partners online and for ever success story I've heard there's also been a failure of some sort. In George and Amina's case there was more than just the fact that they hadn't met before falling in love, but the additional fact that their cultures and expectations from marriage were so very different. Neither of them being entirely honest about their past also didn't help matters, especially when the truth comes out in that horrible way that it always does.
Amina struggles at first to get to grips with life in America, but she keeps focusing on getting her citizenship so that her parents can come and live with them and help when they have children. Only, she hasn't exactly told her new husband about this part of her plan…
I loved this book. I can't quite put my finger on what made it so absorbing, but I found myself completely transported to Amina's world and how she saw everything around her. The difference between the new life she'd adapted to in America and what she found when she went back to Bangladesh to collect her parents was vast – and it was interesting seeing those two worlds side by side in the book too.
I liked the writing style in The Newlyweds and as a result went and had a quick look at some of Freudenberger's other books online – especially The Dissident, her first novel – but to be honest the reviews I found looked rather disappointing. Possibly a shame, or maybe I should just give it a try anyhow?
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