.jpg)
by: Mitali Perkins
Recommended Age: YA Readers (12+ and above)
Lexile: 720L
Content Warning(s): Colourism, death, islamophobia, racism
"Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity--award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new." (book summary)
My Thoughts:
I truly enjoyed reading You Bring the Distant Near because of its diversity and representation. It also features five different point-of-views (Sonia, Tara, Ranee, Shanti, and Anna) with unquestionably memorable personalities. Another thing that stood out to me was breaking the story into three independent periods – the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s to early 2000s – making it more historical. Additionally, the three time periods framed and spotlighted the struggles unique to those distinct points in time. While I stumbled on this particular piece of work, I was familiar with Ms Perkins' previous works – most notably her narrative short story "Magic Carpet", which I'd been analysing in my ELA class. The MCs in the first two settings are Sonia, Tara (sisters), and their mother, Ranee – Bengalis, who've lived in Ghana and London, and are now moving to NYC. They struggle with assimilating to American life, not being used to the customs and expectations and belonging, as a result of being exposed to so many cultures.
Comments