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by Mengestu, Dinaw
Sepha, an Ethopian refugee, is the owner of a grocery store in an older African-American neighborhood in Washington D.C. that is rapidly changing as it undergoes gentrification. Sepha spends the brunt of his personal time with two other African immigrants until he meets Judith and Naomi - a white professor and her biracial daughter who've purchased a home in the neighborhood. A relationship sparks between the three which gives Sepha hope that his fortunes will turn around. But racial tensions in the neighborhood eventually threaten the safety of Judith and Naomi. Mengestu's debut novel is loosely based on his own life experiences and it paints a poignant portrait of a man struggling to find his sense of home after being forced to flee his native land.
- reviewed by LaJuan, University City Regional, PLCMC