Boundaries
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A woman struggles with love, work, and identity in a novel by "one of the finest and most necessary voices in contemporary American and Caribbean fiction" (Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin).
Anna, a Caribbean American immigrant, is eager to assimilate in her new country—but she is about to discover that a gap yawns between her and American-born citizens. The head of a specialized imprint at a major publishing house, Anna is soon challenged for her position by an ambitious upstart who accuses her of not really understanding American culture—particularly African American culture.
Her job at stake, Anna turns for advice to her boyfriend, a fellow Caribbean American himself, but even here she finds conflict—in this riveting, thoughtful novel about immigration, family dynamics, race, and relationships, in which "many moments of elegant, overarching insight bind the personal to the collective past" (The New York Times Book Review).
"Spare and transcendent prose . . . a unique and riveting perspective on Caribbean life as well as immigrant life in general." —The New York Amsterdam News
"If I wore a hat, I'd tip it to novelist Elizabeth Nunez. [Boundaries] is timely and provocative—and it's written with such vivid prose that, despite the bittersweet ending, you'll step away from this refreshing take on contemporary publishing with a smile." —Essence
"In Nunez's latest, the author further explores immigrant life, a life where a hard-working woman can progress up the corporate ladder, buy an apartment in a soon-to-be trendy neighborhood, and still be plagued by outsider's angst. A thoughtful literary novel exploring the shadows of cultural identity and the mirage of assimilation." —Kirkus Reviews
"A quiet, sensitive portrait . . . This work covers a lot of ground, from mother-daughter and male-female relationships to the tensions between immigrants and the American born." —Library Journal
"Deftly dissects the immigrant experience in light of cultural traditions that impact family roles, professional obligations, and romantic opportunities." —Booklist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this familiar tale by Nunez (Anna In-Between), Anna Sinclair, a 40-ish Caribbean-American living in New York, faces conflicting desires of wanting to assimilate yet wanting to still belong to the country she left behind. Early in the novel, her mother is diagnosed with cancer, which brings her elderly parents to the States and allows her to meet Caribbean-American oncologist Paul Bishop, who becomes her boyfriend. Anna, who works at a specialized imprint for a publishing house and wants to publish literary fiction by ethnic writers, comes into conflict with her colleagues as she learns the difference between various ethnic minority groups. She is constantly reminded that immigrant culture is about forming a "community" for aid and survival. An ambitious new colleague goes further by raising questions about her understanding of American culture. She questions her own ambitions in America, where assimilation seems like a pipe dream. Her dilemma of feeling uprooted and belonging nowhere is a common sentiment among immigrants, and the novel doesn't break new ground. Even with the one-dimensional secondary characters and predictable plot, however, this bittersweet, sentimental novel will appeal to readers who've left home to make their path in the world.
