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La Cugina Americana (2012)

by Francesca Segal(Favorite Author)

3.14 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8833923169 (ISBN13: 9788833923161)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Bollati Boringhieri

review 1: Firstly, I did solidly like this book yet I grappled with whether to give it a three or four star rating. Three because sometimes it riled me. Four because ultimately it is pretty good. In the end, I thought it is worth a four star rating – well done book!The main theme of the book is the relationship between secularity and identity – in this case how a man’s birth bearings of being born loyally Jewish in the enclave of North West London plotted out his destiny and future, at many times against his pure will. Sometimes, this sheer secularity riled me and made me think of some intelligent words that I have read recently from a Maggie Gyllenhaal interview where she said that Jewish identity in London bugged her/fascinated her. In the Daily Telegraph, she said ‘In Ame... morerica we don’t expect there to be any social difference (between Jews and non-Jews). (…) But when I came here people started talking in a different way about what it meant to be Jewish. People would talk about specific areas of London being Jewish, about Jewish ways of behaving’. Thinking of the quote above, it really does sum up the essence of the book and how also the main male protagonist Adam fails to seal a more independent identity further by refusing to make decisive and confrontational decisions amongst a backdrop of the natural intervention of fate.The characterisation in the book is lucid and a cast of characters live up to their ‘roles’ very well. I think the main point of the book is how, by failing to act swiftly as well as by failing to address one’s own needs (however churlish), one will fall victim to a fate that can be good and bad. Adam in this main protagonist’s role fails indeed regularly but possibly however wins in the end due to it being naturally in the stars. How things would progress in the future with him – we’ll never know. Like his wife, he is spoilt and mollycoddled at times – not particularly easy to be loved by the reader as he is cossetted into indecisiveness by his relative comforts. Maybe he serves as a simple metaphor for us all?The writing in the book is smooth yet slow and, I think, over time Segal presents her characters well. The language is easy to understand and, with occasional spurts of German and Yiddish and deft explanations of festivals that occur in the Jewish calendar, a strong cultural backdrop is created. It’s going to be up the reader how they react to the needy, churlish Adam. Will they want to kick him sometimes and/or shove a rocket up his bum? Will they get bored with him (yep, could be easy to do I must admit). Or maybe they will simply see him as a symbol of acceptable fate. Sometimes, like I said, I thought the book a bit twee, jaded and too-unnecessarily secular but this is probably what the writer wanted after all.
review 2: A fascinating look at a close-knit Jewish community in North London. Since the author places Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" in this milieu, it's fun to notice the similarities and differences.While I got really angry with Adam Newman, I thought this was a sign of what a good writer Segal is. She creates well-drawn characters who really get under my skin. I think Adam Newman is a real putz, but to my mind that makes him a memorable character. less

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