The Namesake

The remarkable debut novel by Mariner’s original house author, The Namesake is a quietly beautiful family portrait that deftly expands on Lahiri’s signature themes of love, solitude, and cultural disorientation (Harper’s Bazaar), the very themes that made her collection of stories of an international bestseller beloved by readers worldwide as well as an enormous favorite among reading groups. In The Namesake Lahiri follows the Ganguili family on their journey from a tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. After their arranged marriage, Ashoke and Ashima adapts, though with effort, while his wife longs for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we watch as Gogol stumbles along a first-generation path strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With great empathy, acute insight, and unparalleled poise, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our parents and the means by which we come to define ourselves. Readers — and reading groups — who flocked to Interpreter of Maladies will find The Namesake equally elegant, subtle, and deeply affecting.