Digging to America Hardcover – May 2, 2006
by Anne Tyler (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 549 ratings
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In what is perhaps her richest and most deeply searching novel, Anne Tyler gives us a story about what it is to be an American, and about Maryam Yazdan, who after Thirty-five years in this country must finally come to terms with her “outsiderness.”
Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport—the Donaldsons, a very American couple, and the Yazdans, Maryam’s fully assimilated son and his attractive Iranian American wife. Each couple is awaiting the arrival of an adopted infant daughter from Korea. After the babies from distant Asia are delivered, Bitsy Donaldson impulsively invites the Yazdans to celebrate with an “arrival party,” an event that is repeated every year as the two families become more deeply intertwined.
Even independent-minded Maryam is drawn in. But only up to a point. When she finds herself being courted by one of the Donaldson clan, a good-hearted man of her vintage, recently widowed and still recovering from his wife’s death, suddenly all the values she cherishes—her traditions, her privacy, her otherness—are threatened. Somehow this big American takes up so much space that the orderly boundaries of her life feel invaded.
A luminous novel brimming with subtle, funny, and tender observations that cast a penetrating light on the American way as seen from two perspectives, those who are born here and those who are still struggling to fit in.
Tyler (Breathing Lessons) encompasses the collision of cultures without losing her sharp focus on the daily dramas of modern family life in her 17th novel. When Bitsy and Brad Donaldson and Sami and Ziba Yazdan both adopt Korean infant girls, their chance encounter at the Baltimore airport the day their daughters arrive marks the start of a long, intense if sometimes awkward friendship.
Sami's mother, Maryam Yazdan, who carefully preserves her exotic "outsiderness" despite having emigrated from Iran almost 40 years earlier, is frequently perplexed by her son and daughter-in-law's ongoing relationship with the loud, opinionated, unapologetically American Donaldsons. When Bitsy's recently widowed father, Dave, endearingly falls in love with Maryam, she must come to terms with what it means to be part of a culture and a country. Stretching from the babies' arrival in 1997 until 2004, the novel is punctuated by each year's Arrival Party, a tradition manufactured and comically upheld by Bitsy; the annual festivities gradually reveal the families' evolving connections. Though the novel's perspective shifts among characters, Maryam is at the narrative and emotional heart of the touching, humorous story, as she reluctantly realizes that there may be a place in her heart for new friends, new loves and her new country after all. (May 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–
Two families arrive at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport in August 1997 to claim the Korean infants they have adopted. Strangers until that evening, they are destined to begin a friendship that will span their adoptive daughters' childhoods. Bitsy and Brad Donaldson are the quintessential middle-class, white American couple. Sami and Ziba Yazdan are Iranian Americans. From the beginning, the differences in the ways they will raise their daughters are obvious: Bitsy's well-meaning but overzealous efforts to retain her child's Korean heritage are evident in the chosen name–Jin-Ho–and in the Korean costumes that she dresses the girl in every year as they mark the anniversary of the adoption date. The Yazdans are comfortable with their daughter Susan's assimilation into their own Iranian-American culture. When Bitsy's widowed father begins to show romantic interest in Susan's grandmother, cultural differences are brought to a head. Tyler weaves a story that speaks to how we come to terms with our identity in multicultural America, and how we form friendships that move beyond the unease of differences. She does not dwell on the September 11 attacks, but subtly portrays the distrust that the Yazdans have to endure in the following months. Tyler's gift, as in her other novels, is her ability to infuse the commonplace with meaning and grace, and teens will appreciate her perceptiveness in exploring relationships within and between families across the cultural spectrum.–Kim Dare, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Product details
Publisher : Knopf; First Edition (May 2, 2006)
Language : English
4.2 out of 5 stars 549 ratings
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Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of more than twenty novels. Her twentieth novel, A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2015. Her eleventh novel, BREATHING LESSONS, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Top reviews from the United States
Michelaneous by Michele
4.0 out of 5 stars Portrait of Two Families as They Become OneReviewed in the United States on March 13, 2007
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This was a very quick read. Before I knew it, I was almost finished, and that's because of Anne Tyler's keen ability to paint vivid characters and vivid scenes. I believed this story would focus on the adoption of Asian babies, but this aspect is only in the background. Digging To America springs forth from the adoption of two Korean girls--one to the Donaldsons, an American family, the other to the Yazdun Family, who are of Iranian heritage, and moves forward in time as the two families come together and share a new tradition: "Arrival Day." Each year the families alternate hosting the party marking the August day when they first met their babies as well as each other. The story spans about five or six years. There isn't much of a plot; however, the characters are so well drawn, that I felt I knew them, and grew very interested to see how their lives would play out in relation to one another.
The perspective shifts from chapter to chapter, a way to introduce most of the main characters. We primarily get to know the American mother, Bitsy, who is an opinionated, educated woman. She doesn't believe in disposable diapers or preschool, and she keeps her Korean-born daughter's given name, "Jin-ho," scoffing at the Yazdan family for changing their baby's name from "Sooki" to "Susan." There is also a tremendous amount of focus on Susan's Iranian grandmother, Maryam, a widow, who came to America by way of an arranged marriage. Maryam's experience as an immigrant and her constant struggle to assimilate to the American culture is mostly what this story is about, and when she becomes involved with Bitsy's widowed father, Dave, their awkward romance has tremendous impact, as these two families grow and change together.
I found chapter 9, when the perspective switches to young "Jin-ho," now the older sister to a little girl, "Xiu-mei," who was adopted from China, to be at first jarring to the pace of the story. The language and observations are too lofty for an adolescent. But as the story of the "Binky party" unfolds--another one of Bitsy's ideas to rid her daughter of the constant need for her pacifier--I grew more comfortable with the perspective, and found the story quite funny. The chapter itself was like a short story within the novel.
I recommend this book for Anne Tyler fans, and for those who appreciate character-driven stories and writing that flows.
Michele Cozzens, Author of A Line Between Friends and The Things I Wish I'd Said.
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Elsie Doyle
5.0 out of 5 stars We all share a common humanityReviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016
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The novel captures perfectly what it is like in this modern age, for both the emigrant and the people who have been in a country for generations.
The reader is given an insight into the subtle and not so subtle forms of racism ever present for the emigree, and also, we have a certain degree of sympathy for the American family, endeavouring to do the politically correct thing all the time. Sometimes this reader found herself flagging in her support for the brash American couple who cannot help themselves as they overdo everything.
At the same time, we find little sympathy for the young middle Eastern mother at times also because she seems so materialistic and though she is a smart woman, she is not always "aware" of her world.
Yet there is no mistaking the love all of the characters have for the children adopted into their families. Marryam is the character I found won me over. She is a woman with keen intellect. Though not middle eastern myself, I found myself identifying a lot with Marryam, who found the whole "political correctness" thing a little wearying at times. Marryam is her own woman and will not be defined by any culture. She is proud of her middle eastern heritage and unlike her son she has lived the life, but she wants to be left in peace to be her own person. However, like any true
grandmother anywhere, her reserves of love well over, especially when illness touches the American mother. It is then we see Marryam's compassion and true self as a woman. She feels greatly for the American family and recognises in the end, this big, brash woman has been a true and kind friend, as has the whole family.
Just as Marryam is made of a sterling character, she sees in the end that these people too, are just like her in the end. We all need human companionship and love, especially when sickness has touches us.
grandchild and family, and in the end for the American
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Heraldo
5.0 out of 5 stars Anne Tyler at Her BestReviewed in the United States on April 24, 2008
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Oh gosh, folks ... hear the news that this book is not so much about its stated subject matter -- the adopted Asian children, or the American and Iranian families into which they are adopted -- as it is about who these people are and how they react ...
The book is, at heart, a marvelous character study -- Anne Tyler at her very best -- drawing intricate, thoughtful portraits of "ordinary" people in particular circumstances ... gentle, kind, finely honed observations on the people involved and, well, life itself.
Yes, it was perhaps something of a stretch for the author [although the NYT Book Review tells us that "Ms. Tyler was married for more than three decades to the Iranian-born child psychiatrist Taghi Modarressi, who died in 1997"], to blend the various ethnic sensibilities, but Anne Tyler fans who may have been put off by the plot synopsis need not fear -- this is a wonderfully observed novel, among her best, and although the subject matter is somewhat different than her usual Baltimore cast of characters, it is also very similar (the characters are, after all, wherever they may have come from, living in Baltimore), in her finely delineated description of each of the characters.
This is not to imply that she doesn't have something to say about different cultures and their interactions -- she does, of course, have quite a lot to say about that, but it's very subtly embedded in the character studies.
Avid Anne Tyler fan that I am (going as far back as "Tin Can Tree"), I blew off this book for almost two years, based on professional reviews and my own sense that this might not be on target, but I am very pleased to report that having gotten over all that, this book is one of her very best -- I just loved it, as I have just loved all her books.
I think it would serve as great introduction for those who have not read Anne Tyler, and for those who already know her, it's a total "must read".
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Alimags
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting slants on newcomers to a countryReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2015
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Two very different American families adopt a child from the Far East and the novel looks at how this unites the families, despite their contrasting views on child-rearing and how to deal with the girls' original cultures. Much of the book is told through the eyes of Maryam, herself an immigrant to the US. This leads to some interesting observations about integration versus assimilation - very topical, though in different contexts. There are many humorous scenes, though some strain credulity and I found the relationship between Maryam and Dave most unlikely. Some characters seemed too stereotypical - but that doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't exist, I suppose.
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FM
5.0 out of 5 stars You've got to read TylerReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2022
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I think everyone who likes modern novels should read everything written by Anne Tyler. She is just exceptional.
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Zandra
5.0 out of 5 stars Love itReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2022
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A really thoughtful story of adoption and migration between Korea, China and America.
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Florabunda
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2018
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One of Tyler's strengthsis her development of character in unusual circumstances. This story is about adoption of children from overseas, in one case by a family themselves immigrant, and is very well drawn. The characters are well rounded and believable and the ending is mostly happy.
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ELI (Italy)
3.0 out of 5 stars EnjoyableReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2007
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This is a charming book in its own placid way (had there been the possibility, I would have rated it with 3 1/2 stars).
Initially, I thought that its main subject was adoption, in reality this book explores more than that. In fact, I believe that its core revolves around the issues of family dynamics and integration in every sense of the word, starting from adopting babies from a far-away country/culture and the subsequent adjusting to a new life, all the way through the struggles (for the older members of the family) to become well-integrated in a foreign country.
This is true especially for Maryam, one of the Grannies, who moved to the USA as a young bride from Iran. Although the narrative gently shifts from character to character (the two adoptive families, the new babies, all the relatives on both sides etc.) -and each and every one has a fair share of space in the book- I perceived that the main character is Maryam herself.
She has been a widow for years and it seems that, to this day, she has a sort of polite resilience to adjust to the American way of life (although she doesn't seem to miss her native country too much). Even so, she has found her niche and is content with the daily regularity of her life, until someone belonging to the other adoptive family -and to her, the stereotype of everything American- starts to show affection for her. Her sense of belonging, emotional and geographical, starts to oscillate causing a lingering and subtle vulnerability.
I see the rest of the story (the adoptions, the descriptions of both families and most of the ensuing situations), almost as a contour line surrounding Maryam's tale.
On the whole, I'd say that the characterizations in this book are good and very real-life, but the story line is a bit weak. Not too memorable but certainly a pleasant read, even comical at times (the give-up-binky episode was very hilarious). I think this book is suitable for young readers too (14+).
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