Review: The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

Why yes, I did totally and utterly buy this because of the cover. Thank you for asking. Isn't it lovely though? All retro and funky. In my defence, I did actually read the blurb and decide the premise sounded interesting... but did I mention the cover?

Plot summary: Amina met George online. Within months she has left her home in Bangladesh and is living in George's house in the American suburbs. Theirs is a very twenty-first century union, forged from afar yet echoing the traditions of the arranged marriage.

But as Amina struggles to find her place in America, it becomes clear that neither she nor George have been entirely honest with each other. Both have brought to the marriage a secret - a vital, hidden part of themselves - which will reveal who they are and whether their future is together or an ocean apart. 

The very first page completely drew me in. It's written in the third person but with such a chatty, informal style that you're sucked completely into Amina's new life in the United States. Nell Freudenberger has clearly put a lot of effort into uncovering exactly what would perplex a newly arrived immigrant from Bangladesh as there are aspects that just wouldn't have occurred to me, like automatically being expected to look after the neighbour's children or your family-in-law refusing to understand why Amina won't eat pork. There's a large amount of stereotyping, I'm sure, but perhaps that's the entire point.

   George's mother was a good cook and always remembered to make something separate for Amina, if there was pork in any of the dishes.
   "Are you allergic?" Aunt Cathy had asked the first time this had happened, and George had explained that Muslims, like Jews, didn't eat pork.
   "Oh, I can see how it would be dirty over there. You wouldn't want to eat any meat, would you? But our pork is very clean. As clean as chicken - next time, you'll tell Eileen she doesn't have to bother."

It flashes back to Amina's life at home in Bangladesh fairly frequently and the (fictional) culture surprised me. Her parents were very encouraging (almost to the point of demanding) that Amina obtain an American husband, on the expectation that they would soon follow to the U.S. and live under the same roof as the newlyweds. It was... odd. Very mercenary and not a little presumptuous.

The blurb makes it sound a little like Gone Girl - the undiscovered secrets and hidden past etc. Unfortunately, The Newlyweds is a book in two halves and the first is far superior to the second. The beginning is full of hints and suspicions; the second reads like a generic 'other countries are very sad' book. Not great.

VAGUE SPOILERS BELOW.

Amina returns to Bangladesh (not really a spoiler, as the reason isn't what you think) and the entire novel changes completely. The author's notes tell me that Nell Freudenberger based the book on the life of a woman she met on an airplane once, which is possibly why the first half is so real and the second is so... not.   

It begins with Amina jumping to huge conclusions based on no evidence, which miraculously turn out to be right, which is annoying. Then there's a really, really long-winded trip to Bangladesh where Something Happens that makes absolutely no sense. A very 'Where did THAT come from!?' moment, one that's very dramatic and doesn't really fit with the tone of the book.

The additional love interest is also very odd, and presumably something else added to the real story of the woman from the airplane. It wasn't dealt with very feel, almost like it was shoved in there as a sub-plot without really spending the necessary time on it.

END OF VAGUE SPOILERS. 

There also wasn't an ending to speak of. The event that the whole book had been building up to just didn't happen. The story broke off suddenly and we never got to hear whether it was pulled off or not. It makes no sense! The only thing that got me through the drudgery of the Bangladesh story was knowing that eventually I'd get to go back to the interesting part. But I didn't. Which sucked.

I wish I could review the two halves of The Newlyweds separately. The beginning is engrossing, thought-provoking and generally brilliant but unfortunately it's very inconsistent and I lost interest. I am glad I read this and I will read her next work, but I struggled to resume reading every time I put it down.

Read Laura's review of The Newlyweds at Devouring Texts.