Book Review: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Unaccustomed Earth is the third book by Jhumpa Lahiri and actually a second book of collection of short stories. This book is based upon Bengalis who have settled across oceans in the Americas, just like her earlier novel “The Namesake“. The novel revolves around the distances growing between relationships like father – daughter, brother – sister, husband – wife etc. The novel a collection of 8 short stories, the last three of which form a short novel is a beautifully written in splendid prose by Lahiri.

The title story “Unaccustomed Earth” is about a daughter Ruma whose widowed father visits her and she then realizes the distances between them, on how she had been close to her mother more than her father. She is somewhat confused by this and does not know how to handle this situation, and worries that the already fragile relationship should not cease. Despite this father helps himself at Ruma’s home, doing dishes after meals, plays with his grandson and sets up a garden for her. Ruma’s father who is retired from a pharmaceutical company, now frequently travels to Europe and other places. He gets back on his way that Ruma tries to stop him to stay back at her place; although she knows that she won’t be comfortable with her father’s presence. Ruma is now pregnant again, and has to manage with her husband’s salary. It’s on his way back that Ruma discovers that her father has now found a new reason to live and to travel.

“Hell Heaven” is a story about a wife and her husband who doesn’t seem to have the charm to keep her happy. The story narrated by her daughter is about the wife who has distantly loved a family friend of theirs called Pranab Kaku. Pranab frequently visits their place and for dinners and becomes a good family friend of theirs, the family goes out with him and most of the times without the husband. Pranab then marries an American blonde whom he later parts ways with. The story is about the wife’s feeling with the guy on how she felt being with him and simultaneously about her daughter who in her adolescence describes it all.

“A Choice of Accommodations” is a story of a man; married with two kids, who has to attend the wedding of his old crush. He, a doctor by profession but has a job with a medical journal has to attend the wedding with his wife over the weekend. The story revolves on how the relation between him and his wife has begun to inch farther owing to life’s compulsions. In the party he gets drunk and speaks about his wife to a stranger female, while watching his wife speak for long hours with his friend. He then moves to the hotel to speak to his daughter and trips over. The next morning he discovers himself on the bed and his wife in the verandah. The couple then go on to college the car from the college ground where the wedding venue was. The couple then elopes into each other in one of the boarding rooms only to diminish the distances between them.

“Only Goodness” is about a sister who first introduces her brother to alcoholism and then later tries to free him of the habit. She tries to give him an American upbringing that her parents didn’t give her by buying toys, setting up the room for him etc. Later then as he enters college she introduces him to alcohol, get bottles secretly hiding them in her room. The brother takes the habit disastrously and doesn’t seem to give up, flunks in college and ends up in jail for bad driving. The sister who moves later to London to study Economics marries an Englishman much elder to her, and eventually consoles herself of her failed attempts. The story describes the sister’s quest to free her brother of the demonic habit that could have endangered her son’s life; it’s about her care, the secrets that she nursed away from her parents and the unacknowledged burden of her brother which she eventually grows tired of. “Nobody’s Business” is a story of a man (Paul) who has unknowingly fallen for his beautiful Indian housemate (Sangeeta), who in turn is in love with another guy (Farouk).

The next part of the novel is a three chapter novel revolving around two people (Hema and Kaushik) who know each other from childhood through their families. This, for me was the best part of the novel. The first story is narrated by Hema, when she is in her childhood and her family welcomes Kaushik’s family when they move to Massachusetts during a winter. Hema secretly develops an adolescent liking for Kaushik as he now uses her room while they are accommodated at her place. The second story, narrated by Kaushik is engrossingly emotional. Here, Kaushik describes the vacuum created by the death of his mother to cancer, and how he now has to adjust with a step mother and step sisters. I found Lahiri’s writing exceptional in this part; it’s so sensitive, touching that there were occasions wherein I just closed the book and stared at the opposite wall. The poignant scenes could move you to tears. The third and the last part takes you to Rome, where Hema and Kaushik meet again, decades after they had first met though common friends. Kaushik is a photo journalist and moves around the world for his job; he lives in Rome using rented items and hasn’t willingly made a house of his own. He now has to move to Hong Kong and Hema has to move to India to marry Navin. Although, Hema is engaged to Navin, she lets herself to Kaushik. It’s here that both overcome the unseen barrier between them and relate to each other as it’s only they who knew each other ever since childhood. The story ends in tragedy that could almost astound you just like it did me.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing is undoubtedly exceptional. Although her characters are all Bengali’s settled in the US, with children studying in elite schools with an American upbringing, the emotion arousing writing in describing the relations is wonderful. The book is more to do about children than their parents. It’s about how they have lived their lives rather that making a living on foreign land. This book does score high on Lahiri’s ways to relate the emotions and feelings in relationship that never seemed to get along. The emptiness in most of the relationship then results to finding new ways to rejuvenate, anger that’s hidden beneath the skin and not letting it go out, a lust to free from these relations, and escape outside yet restrict to the same place.

Cover Image Credits: Random House (Image to be replaced shortly)