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A review by bangkok67
American Stranger: A Novel by David Plante
3.0
https://cavebookreviews.blogspot.com/
David Plante has written a coming of age novel that covers many aspects of American life. The protagonist, Nancy Gold, is the daughter of prosperous Jewish immigrants from Germany. Nancy's parents left Berlin as soon as Nazism began to rise and found a good life in New York on the Upper East Side.
Nancy is an only child, very close to her parents. She is doing a master's degree in literature at Boston University. During the novel, she becomes involved with three men of different religions, Aaron, a Hasidic Jew who is converting to Catholicism, Yvon a French Canadian American who is Catholic, and Tim, an Egyptian Jewish man living London.
Nancy is a quiet, thoughtful, and rather passive young woman who falls into relationships of varying romantic degrees with the three men. She is curious about their connection to their religion. Nancy is most connected to Henry James, the author she is studying in her graduate program.
Nancy's experiences in New York, Boston, and London are reminiscent of Henry James's novels. Pathos is the tone of this story, and one must feel for Nancy and her quests to find meaning and love. I wanted so much for this character to discover her right soul mate, to find herself and to love that self. She deserved happiness as did most of Henry James's characters.
Thank you, NetGalley, David Plante, and Open Road Media/Delphinium Books (first published January 1st, 2011) for the new English version of this novel.
David Plante has written a coming of age novel that covers many aspects of American life. The protagonist, Nancy Gold, is the daughter of prosperous Jewish immigrants from Germany. Nancy's parents left Berlin as soon as Nazism began to rise and found a good life in New York on the Upper East Side.
Nancy is an only child, very close to her parents. She is doing a master's degree in literature at Boston University. During the novel, she becomes involved with three men of different religions, Aaron, a Hasidic Jew who is converting to Catholicism, Yvon a French Canadian American who is Catholic, and Tim, an Egyptian Jewish man living London.
Nancy is a quiet, thoughtful, and rather passive young woman who falls into relationships of varying romantic degrees with the three men. She is curious about their connection to their religion. Nancy is most connected to Henry James, the author she is studying in her graduate program.
Nancy's experiences in New York, Boston, and London are reminiscent of Henry James's novels. Pathos is the tone of this story, and one must feel for Nancy and her quests to find meaning and love. I wanted so much for this character to discover her right soul mate, to find herself and to love that self. She deserved happiness as did most of Henry James's characters.
Thank you, NetGalley, David Plante, and Open Road Media/Delphinium Books (first published January 1st, 2011) for the new English version of this novel.