I went into this book with high expectations, and overall this book met them. I enjoyed reading this book at the time, but ended up feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I couldn’t really pinpoint what was causing me to feel this way, hence I didn’t post a review. But now nearly a month later, I figured out why this generally well-written, well-plotted book left me feeling off.
About The Other Americans
Late one spring night, Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in California, is walking across a darkened intersection when he is killed by a speeding car. The repercussions of his death bring together a diverse cast of characters: Guerraoui’s daughter Nora, a jazz composer who returns to the small town in the Mojave she thought she’d left for good; his widow, Maryam, who still pines after her life in the old country; Efraín, an undocumented witness whose fear of deportation prevents him from coming forward; Jeremy, an old friend of Nora’s and an Iraq War veteran; Coleman, a detective who is slowly discovering her son’s secrets; Anderson, a neighbor trying to reconnect with his family; and the murdered man himself.
~ Synopsis from goodreads
Book Review
Here’s what I realized I didn’t like about the book.
I wanted a book about the Moroccan immigrant experience in the USA. I was keen to know more about the push and pull between Western and Moroccan cultures. I was looking forward to learning about Moroccan food, culture, rituals, and more. So, I was a bit disappointed that there is very little focus on that.
This could be any American family story. Sure, there is a brief description of their time in Morocco and the adjustment period in America, but the story’s theme is essentially American. If the author had decided to make this a family of Italians or Mexicans, nothing much would be detracted from the story. Yes, she touches on racism, the fear of the “other,” hence the title of the book, 9-11, and the Iraq war make an appearance, but these are just on the surface – almost like filler? I don’t know how to put it.
It is telling that the Mexican in the book sounds so similar to the Moroccan, who in turn sounds so similar to the 3rd- or 4th-generation Americans in the story.
That said, the actual story is very good. I enjoyed the multiple narrators’ viewpoints; the story moves along briskly, and there are some cleverly manipulated tearjerker moments.
Generally, this book was an all-around pretty solid read, but it missed the mark a little for me.
