Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

This book features eight short stories written by an immensely talented author and all featuring Bengalese people settling into America, they also have a back story of loss.

The first story named the same as the title of the book features Ruma, a married woman with a child accommodating a visit from her father. Her mother, her father's companion has also recently died. Her father has left his job and started travelling the world. The reader is aware of a woman he has met on his trips but he feels he cannot tell his daughter. As well as detailing the loss of a wife and a mother, this story also goes into the splitting up of a family.

The second story named "Hell-Heaven" is told in the viewpoint of a girl who's family all but takes in a fellow Bengali man and whose mother slowly falls in love with him. When the man starts to form his own life, they separate barely ever seeing him any more. He builds a new life for himself and an unexpected invitation reveals the enormous differences between their adjustments to other countries.

In "A Choice of Accommodation" a recently married couples goes to a wedding at the boarding school of the groom (Amit) where his old crush is finally getting married. You can see from the beginning the trepidation they feel about the trip. Amit's past is explored, not being able to follow his dreams because of the expectations (of becoming a doctor) that his parents have in mind rather than his talent of journalism. The story is filled with the difficulties the couple experiences right until the end.

The next story - "Only Goodness" was one of my favourites. It deals with a Bengali family living in the USA with high expectations for their two children. It shows how Rahul (the boy) slowly turns away from the expectations of his parents experiencing problems that lead him to be an outcast in the family. His older sister Sudha feels responsible for introducing him to the ill he now deals with. The story comes to a sad climax at the end.

In "Nobody's Business" a young Bengali woman has a tumultuous relationship with a mystery man who from the beginning - possibly because of his own feelings for her - her flatmate suspects. When she goes on a trip, her flatmate is left to pick up the pieces of the secrets in their relationship causing her to eventually return to her senses or so it seems.

In the second section of the book, the two characters are related through three stories. Firstly when he comes back with his parents to visit, later his experiences and his life and finally when they come to meet one another once again.

All these stories are absolutely amazing and I highly recommend them all.