Unaccustomed Earth

  A truly rich and moving story collection from a master of the genre, Unaccustomed Earth lives up to the promise of its Pulitzer Prize-winning author.  Though the title is taken from a classic Nathaniel Hawthorne passage, the heart of these stories is very much contemporary.  Jhumpa Lahiri molds each episode with distinct character voices in the midst of transition: a grown daughter and her father's visit, a husband and wife as they attend a wedding, an older sister and her self-destructive brother.  Each has the element of divergent perspectives, and the second part of the book entwines a young couple's experiences through alternately narrated sections.  Lahiri's delicate and lyrical style holds spellbinding appeal, and these vignettes will stay with you long after the last page has been turned.