A fresh American Dream tale
FICTION
“Wow,” says Cameroonian immigrant Jende Jonga, mesmerized by a New York sunset, “I know the sun comes up and goes down, but I never knew that it does it so nicely.” That’s how I feel about “Behold the Dreamers,” the novel of which Jende is the star: I’ve heard this immigrant story before, but I never knew it could be told so nicely.
“Behold the Dreamers” arrives with much fanfare. Unknown author Imbolo Mbue sold the rights to her manuscript for a reported seven-figure advance — dizzily high for a debut novelist and among the highest ever for an African writer.
The novel’s premise is familiar: a young immigrant family crosses the globe to pursue the American dream. When Jende Jonga lands a job as chauffeur for a wealthy executive, he’s giddy with excitement.
His wife, who’s loving New York City — the abundance, the opportunities, the knock-off designer purses — can now become a pharmacist, and their young son will have a fine future. But disaster looms: the year is 2008, and the boss works for Lehman Brothers.
Both families become victims of the economic collapse and Mbue explores the interconnections. Their lifestyles are radically different — the black family lives in a Harlem walk-up, while the white family has a house in the Hamptons — but both men, strangely bound together as the driver and the driven, must alter their versions of the American dream. Their wives’ lives also intersect, in unexpected ways.
Ironically, while Jende would sacrifice almost anything to stay in America, the boss’s privileged son can’t wait to ditch law school and “the system” for a perceived truer life in India.
Mbue, who immigrated to the U.S. from Cameroon a decade ago, writes with authenticity and a subtle authority. Her white and black characters are equally empathetic, equally imperfect. For instance, Jende’s wife “had such a hard time understanding AfricanAmericans — they embarrassed themselves in front of white people left and right and didn’t seem to care.”
Although the tale isn’t earthshatteringly original, the telling feels fresh, the characters charismatic.
“Behold the Dreamers” is a quietly absorbing, compulsively readable first novel that hints at more and better to come.