Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6813 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Bernice Harrison, Irish Times
`Another treat for fans of this superb storyteller... a terrific read.'

Sunday Express
`Deft and wise prose ... [Tyler's] skill at turning everyday
occurrences into amazing storytelling gets better and better'

Sunday Times
Another of the author's unceasingly perceptive inquires into what
makes us tick'

Customer Reviews

Entertaining read

I finished this book last night and still don't really know what to make of it. I enjoyed the book but there were times when it was dull and because it centres mostly around the "Arrival Day Parties" a lot of time was skipped over and events missed out - like the death of a family member, and by the end I didn't even know how old the girls were.

However, Tyler covers a lot of issues in the book, such as adoption, parenting, death, nationality and what links people and forms friendships. It was interesting to see the girl's friendship develop over the years, and to see how that turned out, as well as the parents. I think Tyler successfully addressed the issue of nationality, and whether an immigrant can feel a citizen in a new country. She also seems to ask why people adopt and why they do it from foreign countries, and whether this makes them saviours in some ways. I think she writes in a way that this would be a good discussion book.

Another problem I had was there were too many characters, and a predictable storyline. When romance blossomed I wasn't surprised and I struggled to remember who was who. Because of the book spanning so long and many events being missed out I felt no connection to the characters unfortunately and there isn't a particular one that stands out in my mind as my favourite.

Overall it was a good read with a lot of depth in key issues such as nationality and adoption, but it isn't my favourite book of the year.

7/10

Another slice of American life
2 Korean girls are adopted on the same day by two very different American families, this book follows the girls and the intertwining of the 2 families. A great insight into the process and a slice of American life. I spent a year living in China, and saw many an American couple coming to collect their adopted children. This book answered some of the questions that I was too British to ask.

Digging to America
Two very different families, unable to have their own babies, each adopt a Korean baby. The night "the girls" arrive at the airport the two families meet, eventually becoming friends. Each year on the anniversary of "arrival day" the two families get together to eat and remember, with the help of some video footage.
Ann Tyler doesn't shy away from asking difficult questions. This is a novel that examines what it is to belong. What does it mean for instance to be an American in this post 9/11 world. Anne Tyler always shows people as they really are - and the people in this lovely novel about love, death belonging and grief are as well written as ever.