First published 2011
Jonas Woldemariam stands at a crossroads after his father Yosef dies. The loss forces him to confront the fractured pieces of his family's story and his own identity as the son of Ethiopian immigrants. He abandons his marriage and career in New York to embark on an unusual journey. Jonas decides to follow the exact route his parents took during their honeymoon decades earlier, when they were young newcomers to America. As he travels, he attempts to reconstruct their experience and understand the cultural forces that shaped his family. The deeper Jonas digs into his parents' past, the more he realizes how little he truly knew about their struggles and dreams. His quest becomes both detective work and creative act, blending memory with imagination to fill the gaps in his family's history. Through this process, Jonas hopes to find a way forward that honors his heritage while allowing him to build a meaningful future in America.
Genres: american-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, quest, unreliable-narrator
Setting: America, New York
Period: Decades Ago, Present Day
321 pages · Paperback · Penguin Publishing Group