A Dog in Georgia
A Novel
-
- 11,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
In this beautiful story of connection and self-reflection, a missing dog in Georgia sets Amy Webb on an adventure away from her tumultuous marriage and towards a journey of self-discovery and joy.
Amy Webb is a chef. Or rather, she was a chef. Somewhere along the way she also became a wife and a stepmother and an emergency contact, and the part of her that was a chef disappeared entirely– along with her sense of self. Which is why she is currently in the republic of Georgia, on a mission to find a lost dog named Angel, and, more importantly, the life’s purpose she once took for granted.
For months, Amy has escaped by watching Youtube videos of Angel walking the children of Tbilisi to school. When Angel goes missing, Amy volunteers to go find him. The fact that her husband may be having (another) affair and her stepson is away at college probably has something to do with it. Who is Amy, after all, if she’s not taking care of other people?
But to her surprise, Angel proves elusive, and while she does make friends with a number of stray dogs, what she finds in Tblisi is entirely human. Is she happy in her marriage? What happened to her career? Why doesn’t she ever cook anymore, even just for herself?
Helping her on this journey of self-discovery is a rebellious teenager, a mysterious and attractive Russian, and several post-Soviet grandmothers. And, of course, the rich food and culture and complicated politics of Georgia itself.
After a lifetime of looking away from her own needs and appetites, Amy is forced to confront what she really wants and how to finally find herself -
And a dog.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the touching latest from Grodstein (We Must Not Think of Ourselves), a dejected 40-something woman travels halfway around the world to restore her sense of purpose. Amy Webb met her husband, Judd, 20 years earlier, while working as a line cook in his Manhattan restaurant. They married two years later, and she gave up her job not long after to help raise her stepson, Ferry. Several years ago, she turned to writing and became a college writing instructor, but she's between assignments and classes, and Ferry is at Cornell for his sophomore year. After she sees sexually explicit messages from another woman on Judd's phone, she suspects he is having yet another affair. She then embarks on a journey to Tbilisi, Georgia, to help find a lost dog named Angel. (She's been following the search for Angel on social media and has sent donations to the cause.) Irine Benia, head of Angel's search group in Tbilisi, offers to put her up. There, Amy encounters Irine's elderly mother and aunts and her teenage daughter, Maia. She also meets Andrei, a mysterious, attractive boarder in their home who she considers sleeping with. As Amy gets her bearings in Tbilisi, the liberating effect of her desire for Andrei and surprising discoveries about Irine and Angel restore her long-buried instinct to put her needs first. The pleasure of the novel is in watching Amy's transformation, which, despite being a well-worn trope, feels genuine. Readers will be transported.
