Book Review: A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

{Thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy.}

Ashok and Priya Shah emigrated as young newlyweds from India to America escaping rigid caste systems with plans to climb the ladder to the American Dream. Twenty years later they have indeed worked their way from humble beginnings in student housing all the way to a nice home situated in a wealthy enclave of an affluent (fictional) town in Orange County, California. As their teen daughters work to assimilate, or not, into their new neighborhood, the family is suddenly thrown into flux when its youngest member, 12-year-old Ajay, has a run-in with police and the Shah’s dream quickly turns nightmarish. 

A Great Country offers a compelling look at important and timely elements of American society: immigration, classism, racism, ableism, and police brutality. A quick read at under 250 pages told with multiple points of view and a plot that really keeps things moving I think this is a book with broad appeal.

This would make an excellent book club selection as the story is very accessible and the deeper themes will make for good discussion. Recommended for fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere.

Pub date: 3/26 – out now!