Mitali Perkins

From 1965 through the present, an Indian American family adjusts to life in New York City, alternately fending off and welcoming challenges to their own traditions.

You Bring the Distant Near

Moth

I really loved this book. It takes place over 2 generations, first through the 70's then through early 2000's, with a bit of their mother/grandmother thrown in to break up the two generations. It's a lovely story about Indian immigrants who move from London to the US. They simply try to survive, but when their father dies, the women of the family break from tradition. Sonia marries an African American that her mother doesn't approve of while Tara marries the man that her family was trying to arrange a marriage for the two of them, but because she fell for him. Instead of letting male family members honor their father, they do, Sonia cutting off her hair while Tara returns her father's ashes to where he was born. We then skip to their daughters growing up, Chantel learning what it means to be Bangali and African American and Anna what it means to live in her cousin's shadow and learning that she can still be American and Bangali. But the biggest growth in this book comes from Ranee Das, the matriarch of the family. She goes from being a negative and racist character to one that accepts anyone that loves her girls to becoming American herself. It's a lovely transformation that leaves you proud of her and rooting that she gets a happy ending herself. 

The writing in this book is lovely. I probably read most of the book in one night because it became near impossible to put it down. The characters are interesting and realistic and completely their own persons. With so many people and so many generations, you might worry they would all start to blend together, but they don't. The only thing I wish was different is that we got a small window into Tara's life as an adult like we did Sonia. But Tara's story stops being about American, where this story focuses on the American side of it. 

This story is perfect for today. It talks about issues we're still facing in 2017 from racism to immigration to trying to find where you are in this world and who you are. There simply was no one better than the Das women to tell this story.

Izza

4 stars | This book is a rollercoaster of emotions. Beautiful story about 3 generations of Indian women immigrating to the USA.

Amanda Kordeliski

A hauntingly beautiful book about three generations of women and their experiences in the United States. Born in India but spent most of their lives in London, new immigrants Tara and Sonia embrace American culture even while their mother Ranee struggles with her new American life. Spanning the years 1973-2006 and giving insight from three generations of women in the same family, You Bring the Distant Near covers first love, families, cultural identity and what each generation struggles to keep cultural connections or let them go. All five women have a strong and distinct voice and you can't help but fall in love with the Das family as you read this book.

Sahi K

CW: Parental death and exploration of grief, racism and colorism (both challenged), aftermath of 9/11. 

When I attended the NOVATeen Book Festival in Virginia in early 2018, I was ecstatic because it was my first ever book event. And I had the amazing opportunity to have some lovely conversations with YA authors. One such convo was with Jennifer Matthieu (the author of Moxie) and when she realized I was an Indian immigrant, she recommended me this book by Mitali Perkins with the idea that I would be able to relate to the characters’ experiences. While the book has remained on my radar since then, I never added it to my tbr because I thought it was too close to being a lit fic. However, recently I just had this urge to read the author’s works because I’ve only heard great things and I’m so glad that I decided to pick it up. 

The first thing I have to mention is that this is a completely character driven novel, which not much of a plot. And it definitely worked for me because I could care less about a plot if you give me amazing well written cast of characters. This book is like a slice of life story of three generations of women across a span of four decades, and their varying experiences as immigrants as well as naturalized citizens - and I thought it was written brilliantly. The prose is riveting right from the get go; it captivated me on page one and didn’t let me go until I was done in a mere couple of hours. I can’t believe how fast paced it was for a story about the daily lives of characters, and how the author managed to convey so much in such a short book. I felt every single emotion that the characters did - Sorrow, joy, helplessness, frustration and ultimately love. 

The five women in this book are the pillars of this story and anything I can say about them will not be enough. An immigrant mother of two girls who wants a respectable future for her kids in America but still wants to preserve her conservative Bengali identity, a young woman who is frustrated with all the restrictions that are placed upon her and uses her writing as catharsis for venting out her frustrations, her older sister who is burdened by the responsibility of being a dutiful pretty eldest child having to suppress her desire to be on the stage and not an engineer or doctor as she is expected, a biracial young woman who is frustrated with having to choose between both sides of her heritage when all she wants is to belong, and her cousin who maybe an American citizen by birth but feels much more connected to her Bengali and Indian heritage and doesn’t understand why the West is considered a paragon of all things progressive - the story of all these five flawed, strong, resilient women is told in such a seamless manner that you feel connected to them and very invested in what happens in their lives. 

This book is full of thought provoking themes and while some are forceful in the way they are discussed, some are too subtle and nuanced - but that’s the beauty of this book. The main theme that’s very pronounced is how immigrants want to preserve their culture and identity even in their new home, but their kids want to assimilate and adopt the ways of the new country much faster. This distinction is particularly visible in instances where Ranee is always sad that her youngest daughter Sonia is of a darker complexion and living in a prominently Black neighborhood might mean that others would see her daughter as one of “them”; and Sonia is appalled at this discrimination and uses her writing as well as involvement in her school’s Equal Rights Club to fight back. 

However, it was the other subtle themes that resonated with me a lot because there were things I felt too at some point of time after moving to America, and I was stunned by how realistically the author portrayed it all. Tara is an actor and the way she tries to fit in the new country and school is by watching American tv shows and listening to the popular music, trying to mimic the mannerisms and accent and hoping that it’ll make her feel more American. While I didn’t exactly do it for the same reasons, my basic American education was through TV shows as well and it felt a bit like seeing myself on the page. And I suppose it is true for many people who are in India or other countries, watching Hollywood movies and tv shows to learn more about the West. 

Anna was another character I related to quite a bit because she is very Indian at heart and doesn’t understand why she has to completely change herself to fit among her American schoolmates. There is one very telling episode in the novel with Anna when she feels extremely uncomfortable changing in the locker room of her school because there is no privacy, but when she questions about it, she is told that we shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies. I loved how this matter is resolved over time and the message that not wanting to be naked in front of others has nothing to do with being ashamed of our body, and that wanting to be modest is not wrong and just a different choice. This hit very close to my heart because I have faced similar situations. 

To conclude, I don’t think I have been able to explain very well in my review why you should read this wonderful book but know that I highly recommend it. If you love books featuring the trials and tribulations of women of different generations and how being an immigrant shapes people’s lives, you should definitely give this one a try. It’s a very nuanced outsider vs insider perspective of both America and India and I thought the author did a brilliant job. However, if you like plot driven books, you might have to give this a miss. This is all about characters whom I could relate to so much, and I don’t think anyone can help but fall in love with them.

Paige Green

Rating: 4/5

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 13+ (some sexual content)

Pages: 303

Author Website

Amazon Link

I received a copy of this book via KidLitExchange and Farrar Straus Giroux. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity--award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

I’m not one for contemporaries, but this looked like a cute little romance and family book that I could get into. And for the most part it was. The character developments of the main characters are amazingly well done and the world building is as well. And overall the plot and the pacing are really good. I felt for these characters and I really enjoyed this book.

However, I felt that this book, while charming, was a bit discombobulated. The book switches POV suddenly and you have little indication of the time or character that the book switches to. The book also has a lot of plot points that never really get resolved. Another point about this book is that the tagline is “five girls”, but the book is actually about 4 girls and 1 woman since we got little of Didu’s backstory. 

Verdict: It’ll make you hug your parents. If you enjoy contemporaries this is the one for you.

Amelia C 

Caitlin Hooker

libby k

Samia Elashry

Katie Day

A 2017 National Book Award Longlist Title with six starred reviews A School Library Journal's Best Books of 2017 A New York City Public Library's Notable 50 Best Books for Teens South Asia Book Award Winner This elegant young adult novel captures the immigrant experience for one Indian-American family with humor and heart. Told in alternating teen voices across three generations, You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. From a grandmother worried that her children are losing their Indian identity to a daughter wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair to a granddaughter social-activist fighting to preserve Bengali tigers, award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together the threads of a family growing into an American identity. Here is a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

You Bring the Distant Near

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