20th-century immigration story that feels eerily current
welcome. Furthermore, many men like Karak encounter a legal barrier forbidding them to marry women of another race.
Perhaps the heaviest toll comes with the passing of the Alien Land Law where Asian Indians, Japanese and other nonwhites are considered “aliens ineligible for citizenship” and thereby prohibited from leasing and owning land. In every region where Punjabis farmed, there was a pattern of prejudice against them, even before the Alien Land Law was in effect.
“Who belongs in what place on this earth?” ponders Jivan Singh, a sentiment shared by Ram, who longs to return home. Despite his yearning, Ram dutifully agrees to extend his stay in California, earning additional money for his cousin’s dowry in Punjab. “Home loomed beyond his reach as a place of peace, the Valley as a place of division.”
Locals openly refer to the Punjabis as “dirty ragheads” and see them as a threat to family life. Large landowners who formerly negotiated monetary deals with the immigrant sharecroppers double-cross Ram and Karak by seizing their crops. Tensions mount until an unspeakable act occurs. As an old man looking back, Ram realizes how “a moment determines a life.”
Reddi is a meticulous researcher, history buff and, like her character Ram, a fascinating storyteller. She skillfully embeds the ubiquitous bigotry of the time in her narrative. Although the novel provides readers with a detailed view of our nation’s past indignities, the book’s themes of racism, discrimination and anti-immigration disconcertingly resemble the divisiveness of the United States today.
Historical fiction begs readers to ask themselves, “What can we learn from our past mistakes and how can we use this knowledge to address contemporary issues?” That remains the 50 million dollar question.