Hestia strummed her guitar and sang in a high, rich voice that made Flora think of water coursing over rocks in the forest.

For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password. The novel is a quick read, driven by a plot that will pique readers’ curiosity about how Rachel and Swati’s disagreements, large and small, will resolve. Upon meeting her now-husband Dhruv in a Manhattan bar, Rachel instantly fell in love with his boyish charm and assertiveness. To complicate matters, shortly after the couple's arrival, Swati, Dhruv's mother, shows up on their doorstep, announcing that she has left Dhruv's father and will be living with them.She is the author of the chapbooks Translation (Paper Nautilus, 2019, winner of the 2018 Vella Chapbook Prize), Tropicália (Newfound, forthcoming, winner of the 2020 Newfound Prose Prize) and Amblyopia (forthcoming, Bull City Press - INCH micro-chapbook series). She lives and works in Washington, DC, and she enjoys yoga, coffee, and her small dog friend, Sassafras.

Yes, Swati inserts herself into Rachel’s life in Mumbai, but she’s accepting when Rachel drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes, and associates with male friends. A couple working as chauffeurs have been accused of stealing millions from the founder of Tin House Books. Still, Mother Land is a pleasant story of self-discovery and friendship with plenty of twists and intrigue to keep the reader engaged. She examines recurring characters and places from as many angled refractions as possible until one of the richest, fullest New England spiritual topographies ever written emerges.The novel is a quick read, driven by a plot that will pique readers’ curiosity about how Rachel and Swati’s disagreements, large and small, will resolve . The unusual, to an American reader, setting of Mumbai provides a fascinating, colorful backdrop for this heartfelt story of two women getting to know themselves. Their culture clash is inevitable, but Franqui has made both women so complex and sympathetic that the reader cannot make easy decisions about their future and relationship. Suddenly these two strong-willed women from such very different backgrounds are alone together in a home that each is determined to run in her own waya situation that ultimately brings into question the very things in their lives that had seemed perfect and permanent .

slow: Overall, more time was spent establishing the differences between the two women rather than bring them closer to resolve their conflicts; I don’t feel like what was supposed to be a heartwarming, relatable story for many women like Rachel was as well executed as it could have been.Jess and her mother Eleanor struggle to sell socialism to Tamworth – a sleepy Midlands town that just doesn’t want to know. So starts Leah Franqui’s novel, Mother Land, a story of trying to find oneself in another country and placing the success of that on another person.

I thought the alternating chapters between Rachel and her mother in law worked really well and helped me keep turning the pages. Mother Land is a delightful read, which will leave readers knowing more about themselves as well as about Franqui's characters. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollinsPublishers for an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest, fair review. I knew nothing about Theroux’s family until Google got the better of me; what I do know is that the novel brilliantly depicts characters in pinpoint prickly prose and continually warns the reader very precisely not to seek equivalences between the family depicted and Theroux’s own, since of course all families are essentially unknowable.One of the many things I wish I could change about myself is my inability to stop reading a book I don't like. Mother/land, winner of the 2020 Hudson Prize, is focused on the intersection of motherhood and immigration and its effects on a speaker’s relationship to place, others and self. So when Eleanor is invited to spend a summer teaching in East Germany, she and Jess leap at the chance to see what the future looks like. I enjoyed the examination of biases on Indian culture and the descriptions of the country from a Western perspective and how they differ from that of a person born and raised in India. Initially the pair of women are predictable in their actions and thoughts but it is not long before we see them each being affected by the other.