Comment

Sep 21, 2017lostintheshelves rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is an old-fashioned family saga; it's long, but full of lovable characters and things happening, which meant I raced through it in seven days despite its length. The author uses the omniscient voice and frequent point-of-view changes so you see the events through many eyes, getting different perspectives on faith, family, racism, sexism, and politics. I loved the setting and a lot of the characters: the resourceful Sunja, the other first-generation immigrants, and a quartet of people who fall in love with family members. As a family saga novel, it's not quite as good as Hala Alyan's Salt Houses but stronger than Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul; you can see why it's currently in the running for the National Book Award.