The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Recommended by: Megan Coder, Librarian
Call Number: Stacks PS3562.A316 N36 2003

The Namesake tells the story of a young Indian couple, arranged by marriage, who emigrate to Cambridge, Massachusetts in the mid-1970s. Of course this takes some adjustment, especially for the wife Ashima, while her husband Ashoke pursues his engineering degree. They soon start a family and their first born is a son that they name Gogol, after the Russian author Nikolai Gogol. In this coming of age story, the reader gets to know Gogol from childhood to adulthood and his struggle to identify with his Indian and American roots. You will have to read this book to find out why Ashoke holds Nikolai Gogol close to his heart and if Gogol ever learns to accept his namesake.