Book Description
Navigating between the Indian traditions they've
inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in
Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond
the barriers of culture and generations. In "A Temporary
Matter," published in The New Yorker, a young
Indian-American couple faces the heartbreak of a stillborn
birth while their Boston neighborhood copes with a nightly
blackout. In the title story, an interpreter guides an
American family through the India of their ancestors and
hears an astonishing confession. Lahiri writes with deft
cultural insight reminiscent of Anita Desai and a nuanced
depth that recalls Mavis Gallant. She is an important and
powerful new voice.